After seven years, 130 million systems, and over 1 billion games sold, Nintendo is apparently preparing to release new hardware. In this article, we’ll review everything we know about the Switch 2 (or whatever the next console is named) and guess at Nintendo’s next system.
It discusses the system’s likely form factor, the Switch 2’s release date, price, launch games, backward compatibility, and more. For the purpose of convenience, we’ll refer to the new system as the Switch 2, though based on Nintendo’s history, it’s probable that the console will be given a new, original moniker.
Some predict Nintendo to unveil and ship the Switch 2 around 2024, although a more recent source suggests that a 2025 release date is possible. The Switch, released in 2017, was a well-received and economically successful console, but fans are constantly looking for something fresh and exciting, and Nintendo is known for delivering.
In 2021, Nintendo executives stated that the Switch was in the middle of its lifetime. Well, it’s now 2024, and it’s reasonable to presume that the Switch has reached a later stage in its existence, possibly reaching the end. There are still a lot of unresolved questions about the Switch 2, but for now, here’s what we know.
Nintendo Switch 2’s rumored release date
We do not know for sure. The Switch debuted in March 2017, but there is no assurance that Nintendo will follow the same strategy with its next piece of hardware. The Wii and Wii U, for instance, were released in November.
One notion is that Nintendo would release the Switch 2 in the first half of 2024 to address any potential stock shortages before the crucial holiday shopping season when Nintendo wants to ensure adequate supply in the market.
Earlier this year, an official press release from GameShark’s most recent encounter revealed a September 2024 release date for the Switch 2. However, this is unlikely to be authentic.
According to one analyst, Switch 2 will come in 2024 with an 8-inch LCD panel, presumably a step down from the smaller OLED screen in the previous edition.
According to recent sources, Nintendo has postponed the debut of the Switch 2 until 2025. Following the revelation of these predictions, Nintendo’s stock price collapsed. Industry watchers observed that if true, it would present a “fairly devastating” picture for the gaming sector in 2024.
Switch 2: Potential Specifications
One of the most unknown aspects of Nintendo’s next piece of hardware is what it will be. According to former Nintendo employees, the new device would be similar in size to the Switch and may be used as a handheld or docked to a TV.
Nintendo has not revealed any details regarding its upcoming system, stating that it aims to “surprise and delight” people. For now, we can only speculate and make predictions.
According to Digital Foundry, the Switch 2 may employ Nvidia’s new custom version T239 CPU. The site built a PC based on what it thought the Switch 2’s specs will be and discovered that it could run Death Stranding at 1080p with an average frame rate of 35 fps.
Switch Two Games with Backward Compatibility
Nintendo is widely expected to develop a new Mario Kart game for their next home system; there are few safer bets in gaming. According to a report, Mario Kart 9 will include a “new twist,” which fans are excited to discover.
If a new Mario Kart game is in development, it would appear to be a good financial decision to make it the launch title for the next platform.
According to a 2023 rumor, several developers have already started developing games for the new Nintendo console, but no official announcements have been made yet.
Fans want to know if the next Nintendo console will accept Switch games. We do not know. However, Nintendo’s past statements regarding the Nintendo Account system transferring over to the next generation may indicate that the company plans to provide some kind of backward compatibility.
A former Nintendo employee believes the Switch 2 will be backward compatible with digital eShop games.
Keep checking back with GameSpot for more details on the next Nintendo console. We’ll update this story as new information becomes available.
Switch 2 Price.
Everything is conjecture at this point because the Switch 2 has not been released. One analyst predicts the Switch 2 will cost $400, with top-tier titles selling for $70. The original Switch cost $300, and its inexpensive pricing undoubtedly contributed to the system’s outstanding commercial performance.
It is unclear whether the next Nintendo system will have a single SKU or many variants at different price ranges.
The projection that game costs will rise to $70 is hardly surprising. After all, Nintendo already paid $70 for Tears of the Kingdom, which was a smash hit at that price point.
Nintendo stated that the current Switch game pricing was a one-time event. However, charging $70 for Switch 2 games would align with the pricing of top firms such as Microsoft, Sony, and third-party publishers.
Switch 2 News.
Nintendo’s earlier consoles featured separate account systems, and players had to create new accounts for future hardware releases. The new Nintendo Account could smooth the move to the next Nintendo console.
Additionally, it “allows us to communicate with our players if and when we make a transition to a new platform, to help ease that process or transition,” Doug Bowser, Nintendo’s CEO, stated.
“Our goal is to minimize the dip you typically see in the last year of one cycle and the beginning of another,” he said. “I can’t speak to the possible features of a new platform, but the Nintendo Account is a strong basis for having that communication as we make the transition.”
Nintendo CEO Shuntaro Furukawa stated in 2023 that the future console would have the same Nintendo Account system as the Switch, so Bowser’s suggestion is not surprising.
Yijia Zhai of Macquarie Group Ltd. told Bloomberg that the next Nintendo system will not be as successful as the Switch.
“We do not think the new console will be as successful as the Switch, and we see potential profit-taking after the announcement,” Zhai said, adding that Macquarie had lowered Nintendo’s stock analysis to “neutral.”
Meanwhile, Goldman Sachs analyst Minami Munakata predicted that the latest Nintendo hardware would not improve Nintendo’s total addressable market. However, the company isn’t committed to that idea and says its projection might change if the system “turns out to be new concept hardware rather than a successor along the same lines as the Nintendo Switch.”
A platform that isn’t as successful as the previous one may not convey the full story, and it’s not necessarily bad news for Nintendo. The Switch, of course, did extraordinarily well in terms of hardware and software sales. And this accomplishment is all the more evident given the Wii U’s poor performance.
Nintendo has not stated when it plans to introduce new hardware, but some speculate that an announcement could coincide with Nintendo’s fiscal schedule.
Nintendo’s new fiscal year begins on April 1, thus some are expecting an announcement shortly before then to assist boost the stock price and generate momentum for the following quarter. Nintendo’s stock recently hit a new high, and some analysts predict even better gains if the company does indeed announce new hardware shortly.
