In an earnings call released by Nintendo earlier this month, the company’s president, Shuntaro Furukawa, informed investors that although they will be releasing the Switch successor soon, it will not be within the next year. This statement has led to speculation that the system could potentially be released after March 2025, at the end of Nintendo’s fiscal year.
In light of the new console, it has been recorded by the “State of the Game Industry” survey conducted during the 2024 Game Developers Conference (GDC) in San Francisco that 8% of developers are currently working on projects for the upcoming system with more starting to consider the Switch 2 in their company’s plans. Upon this news, many gamers have deepened their suspicions of the console getting an early release next year.
First released worldwide in 2017, the original Nintendo Switch has sold over 141.32 million units as of March of this year. The console was one of the first systems that could be portable or connected to a docking port that players could hook to their TV. The Switch has also been praised for its innovative “Joy-con” design for its controllers, which are easy to connect and disconnect from the console’s screen and can be customized to bring more personality to a player’s console.
Outselling both the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, which were released around the same time, the Switch’s lifespan has outlived almost two generations of both Sony’s and Microsoft’s consoles. The system had also outsold its predecessor, the Nintendo Wii, by about 40 million units towards the end of its lifespan. This success has led to excitement and fears from gamers worried that the upcoming console may not live up to its expectations.
Although they will not likely mention the new system during the event, Nintendo will be hosting a “Nintendo Direct” session to announce its upcoming projects that will soon be released for the original Switch. Many believe this may be the last Direct that will solely focus on titles for the system.
