There have been more than a few rumblings of Nintendo’s next generation console in recent months, which makes sense, given the fact that the Switch is in the seventh year of its lifecycle. Another new report has now been published by VGC’s Andy Robinson, which claims to have new details on the console’s development and launch.
As per the report, the Nintendo Switch successor is going to be another handheld-console hybrid similar to its predecessor, and just like the Switch itself, will also use cartridges for physical media. Additionally, it’s also claimed that unlike the Nintendo Switch OLED, the next Nintendo console will launch with an LCD screen, allegedly due to Nintendo looking to keep manufacturing costs down, especially with increased internal storage as compared to the Switch.
The report goes on to claim that the Switch successor is targeting a release sometime in the second half of 2024, with Nintendo looking to have ample stock available right out the gate so as to avoid the global and prolonged supply constraints that the PS5 and Xbox Series X/S faced upon release in 2020, and for a couple of years afterwards. Apparently, “key partner studios” already have development kits of the new console (which aligns with other recent reports as well).
In a separate report, Eurogamer has also corroborated that the Switch successor will be another hybrid console, and that it’s targeting a launch in the second half of 2023.
What remains unknown, however, is whether the next generation Nintendo console will be backward compatible with the Switch. Nintendo has previously stressed multiple times that it wants to ensure a smooth transition from the Switch to its successor, but the company has previously been reluctant to confirm whether backward compatibility will be supported. As per VGC’s report, some third party developers have expressed concern that legacy support for Switch titles could affect software sales on the next console.
Earlier this year, Nintendo said that though it was expecting slowdown in the Switch’s sales, it had no plans to launch new hardware in the current fiscal year, which ends on March 31, 2024. Around the same time, reports claimed that work on the Switch successor was progressing well, but that the new console wouldn’t be out until Spring 2024 “at the earliest”.
The Nintendo Switch has sold over 125 million units as of March 31.
