It’s been more than seven years since the hugely successful Nintendo Switch console went on sale.
But the Japanese video game company is finally readying its next major product.
According to Nintendo’s president, an official announcement about the ‘successor to Nintendo Switch’ is coming before April 2025.
Fans are dubbing the upcoming device ‘Switch 2’, although its official name hasn’t been revealed.
It’s also unclear how much it will resemble the original £280/$300 Switch console, which revolutionized gaming with its 2-in-1 ‘hybrid’ design.
The original Switch – described as a hybrid console – is a tablet that can either be docked for home console use or used as a portable handheld device
In a low-key post on Nintendo’s official X (Twitter) account, Shuntaro Furukawa, president of Nintendo, said: ‘We will make an announcement about the successor to Nintendo Switch within this fiscal year’
The original Switch – which is still on sale – is a tablet that can either be docked for home console use or used as a portable handheld device.
In a post on Nintendo’s official X (Twitter) account, Shuntaro Furukawa, president of Nintendo, said: ‘We will make an announcement about the successor to Nintendo Switch within this fiscal year.’
The Japanese fiscal year will run until March 31 next year, meaning the new console will be announced by then as long as Nintendo follows through on its promise.
Furukawa added: ‘It will have been over nine years since we announced the existence of Nintendo Switch back in March 2015.’
The president also said that the firm will be holding a ‘Nintendo Direct’ presentation event in June, but this will only focus on games.
‘Please be aware that there will be no mention of the Nintendo Switch successor during that presentation,’ he said.
It’s possible the new console could be announced later in 2024 with a release scheduled for the first three months of 2025, a previous report by Eurogamer suggests.
Nintendo’s first-generation Switch was released in 2017 and after peaking in 2021 sales are now dwindling. Mario Kart has been a top-selling game
People wait in line outside the Nintendo Store in Manhattan, New York on March 3, 2017 – the global release date of the original Nintendo Switch
Meanwhile, a leaker who goes by the name ‘Zippo’ says it will cost $399 (roughly equivalent to £320) – so more than the original Switch.
Back in February, Nintendo shares fell 10 per cent after the firm confirmed ‘Switch 2’ would not be ready for Christmas 2024.
During an earnings call, Furukawa said Nintendo is looking to ‘maintain the momentum of the Switch business’ – suggesting this new console could be similar to the original.
It was back in March 2015 that Nintendo announced the existence of the original Nintendo Switch – although at the time it was referred to by its codename, ‘NX’.
At a hastily arranged press conference in Tokyo, the console was teased as a ‘dedicated game platform with a brand-new concept’.
It wasn’t until October 2016 that Nintendo officially announced the console under the name ‘Nintendo Switch’ – a successor to Nintendo classics such as the N64, the GameBoy and the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES).
Switch hit shelves worldwide the following March, selling 2.74 million units in its first month, making it Nintendo’s fastest selling home console.
Fans show off their new Nintendo Switch console at consumer electronics retailer Bic Camera in Tokyo, Japan, March 3, 2017
As of March this year, it has sold over 141 million units worldwide – making it the third-bestselling console of all time, behind the PlayStation 2 and Nintendo DS.
Even though a smaller Switch Lite and Switch with an OLED screen have since followed, Switch sales have been dwindling since 2021, suggesting a new Nintendo console is needed to fill the market.
One of Nintendo’s main gaming rivals, Microsoft, is reportedly about to launch new Xbox consoles by the end of this year.
A redesigned version of the Xbox Series X is set to be released in October, while an upgraded Series S will apparently arrive in August.
Sony, meanwhile, isn’t expected to release the PlayStation 6 until 2026 at the very earliest.
Although Nintendo and Sony are bitter rivals today, the two once collaborated on a prototype console that never hit the market – now referred to as the ‘Nintendo PlayStation’.
