It Takes Two Release Time: When It Unlocks on Nintendo Switch 2

It Takes Two unlocks its Nintendo Switch 2 native edition on October 15, 2026. Nintendo eShop digital launches follow the standard console pattern: each region flips the switch at midnight local time, so it unlocks at midnight Eastern in the US, midnight BST in the UK, midnight CEST across Europe on October 15, and midnight JST in Japan. EA’s official game page confirms the Switch 2 version is live as of the October 8 announcement, with Hazelight Studios’ own It Takes Two game page listing Nintendo Switch as a current platform.

The Switch 2 version is built by Turn Me Up Games in partnership with Hazelight. Turn Me Up Games is the Los Angeles port studio that built the Switch 2 native version. Existing Nintendo Switch owners get the upgrade for free; new buyers pay full price at the Nintendo eShop. The Switch 2 port adds higher resolution, better frame rates, and richer effects over the original Switch edition that launched on November 4, 2022 and is listed on the Nintendo eShop. Friend’s Pass is Hazelight’s system where only one person in a co-op pair needs to own a copy; the second player downloads a free client and joins in online or split-screen co-op.

Co-op only, so crossplay and cross-progression don’t really apply in the usual sense. It Takes Two is single-platform per pair: a Switch 2 player can pair with another Switch 2 player, or with an original Switch player in the same household, but there’s no Switch 2 to PC matchmaking. The game ships with text in 12 languages and full English voice acting. The Game Awards 2021 Game of the Year went to It Takes Two, beating Deathloop, Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart, Returnal, and Resident Evil Village.

It Takes Two is the co-op platformer from Hazelight Studios (the Swedish studio founded by Josef Fares; their other games include A Way Out and Split Fiction), directed by Fares. You play as Cody and May, a couple turned into dolls by their daughter’s magic, working through a wildly inventive series of levels built around constantly changing mechanics. The full launch lineup for the week is on our Release Radar: Every Big Game Out This Week (Oct 12 to Oct 18) post and the Release Calendar.

Our read: the unlock time is the simple part: midnight in your region, same as the original Switch launch. The interesting detail is the free upgrade for existing Switch owners; if you bought the original in 2022, the Switch 2 version should land in your library automatically and you only need to download it. The bigger question is whether Switch 2 brings enough over the original to justify the download, and based on what Hazelight has shown, the answer is yes for anyone playing on a TV rather than the handheld screen. Compared with the October 15 Switch launch of Castlevania: Belmont’s Curse, the It Takes Two upgrade is the simpler story: same midnight pattern, same Nintendo platform, but no new purchase required for anyone who already owns the 2022 Switch edition.

Edited by Kerwin Stewart, Editor-in-Chief · How we report