Fans eager for a successor to the Switch will have to wait a bit longer. Nintendo confirmed that no Switch 2 or Switch Pro is expected in the coming months during its latest earnings call. 2024 could finally be the year we see what new console the company’s been working on, but in the meantime players will have to put up with the current, aging hardware.
The Week In Games: Return To Hyrule
Nintendo President Shuntaro Furukawa told investors on a call Tuesday that no new Switch or revised versions like the Switch Lite and OLED model were factored into the 2023 fiscal outlook, Bloomberg reports. While that doesn’t entirely preclude the company from surprise-launching something, or beginning to tease it later in the year, it certainly makes any imminent launch of a more powerful Switch console unlikely.
This will be the third year in a row now that players have been waiting for Nintendo to announce a more powerful handheld hybrid. Other companies aren’t waiting for the famed publisher to make the next move either. Valve launched its own Steam Deck PC gaming handheld and Asus is now preparing to compete with the ROG Ally, a pricey device that nevertheless promises powerful specs. Then again, none of those have The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom.
The news comes amid a slowdown in overall Switch sales as the hardware enters its seventh year. The company announced it sold 18 million units last year, nearly a quarter less than in 2021 and below its goal of 21 million. Furukawa said the company’s goal in the meantime is to sell more Switches to people who already own them. “We try to not only put one system in every home, but several in every home, or even one for every person,” he said in the latest earnings statement.
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One way it’s been doing that is by releasing special-edition Switches pegged to major launches like Pokémon Scarlet and Violet and now Tears of the Kingdom. Nintendo said it also aims to continue growing the sales of older games. Notably, Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe sold another 2 million copies last year, edging Pokémon Let’s Go Pikachu and Eevee out of the Switch’s top 10 best-selling games list. A big Mario Day sale and the billion-dollar box office success of the Mario Movie probably helped with that.
While Tears of the Kingdom is right around the corner, Pikmin 4 is currently Nintendo’s only major announced release for the second half of the year. The only other scheduled drops so far are Scarlet and Violet’s Area Zero expansion and more Mario Kart 8 Deluxe DLC. Metroid Prime 4 is still TBD and Nintendo has yet to tease any other big blockbusters in the pipeline, though I’m sure they’re there. A new Super Mario game finally, perhaps? It’s been almost six years since the last one.
Or maybe Nintendo will save it for whenever it’s finally ready to reveal whatever console is coming after the Switch.