2020 has been an oddly silent year for the Switch and for Nintendo. Though Animal Crossing: New Horizons has taken the industry by storm with its critical acclaim and its rapturous commercial performance, and though the Switch itself continues to sell at a steady pace, by way of new releases and news about upcoming games, Nintendo have been silent for much of the year. Much of that has probably been down to COVID-19, but it seems Nintendo are gearing up for a big year in 2021.
Recently, reports emerged that Nintendo were planning on releasing a new, more powerful version of the Switch in 2021. Now, another report has been published by Bloomberg that suggests the same, and adds more details on top of it. Anonymous sources familiar with Nintendo’s plans and strategies have allegedly told Bloomberg that the Japanese giant is looking to release a new Switch version capable of more computing power and rendering 4K visuals in order to be more able to compete with the PS5 and the Xbox Series X, which launch later this year.
Nintendo have been struggling to keep up with demands of the Nintendo Switch and Nintendo Switch Lite, and though they have recently said that their production pipelines are beginning to recover, the Bloomberg report claims that as supply catches up with demand for the rest of the year, production of the more powerful Switch variant won’t be able to begin until early next year.
The report further claims that to go along with the new Switch model, Nintendo will also be releasing “a slew” of new games in 2021, coming from first party studios and third party development partners alike, and that the releases will be looking to target both casual and hardcore crowds. The aforementioned sources have said that Nintendo’s focus on its 2021 lineup has been one of the primary reasons for the company’s lackluster output this year.
Recently, reports have strongly suggested that a full-fledged Nintendo Direct presentation will be broadcast this Friday, or by mid-September at the very latest, so if that does happen, it’s possible that we’ll be hearing more about the Switch’s 2021 lineup then.
For now, given that these details haven’t come from official channels, take all of this with a grain of salt. We’ll keep you updated should we learn anything more, so stay tuned.
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