Switch 2 Could be Announced Closer to Launch Than the Switch Was, Nintendo Suggests

If recent reports are to be believed, development on the Nintendo Switch successor is seemingly “progressing well” behind the scenes, and even though the new console is said to be unlikely to launch before Spring 2024 at the earliest, given the fact that the Switch itself is over six years old now, it’s no surprise that many are beginning to wonder when Nintendo will officially unveil its successor.

Of course, those who’ll remember the Switch’s own pre-launch cycle will be a tad concerned about whether the next Nintendo console also ends up taking as long to release after its initial confirmation as the Switch itself did- though Nintendo has suggested that that might not necessarily be the case.

The Switch was confirmed to be in development by Nintendo under the codename NX in early 2015 and only came out a couple of years later, and during a recent Q&A session with investors, president Shuntarow Furukawa was asked if the interval between the announcement and launch of Nintendo’s next platform will be in line with what it was for the Switch. Interestingly, Furukawa explained that said interval for the Switch was more down to the fact that, at a time when the company was preparing to enter the mobile market, it wanted to assure fans that it was still very much focused on consoles as well.

“Looking back at the release of information leading up to the Nintendo Switch launch, we announced the NX development codename in March 2015 during a joint announcement with DeNA Co., Ltd. regarding our business and capital alliance (as it related to joint development of smart-device game applications and its operation, and also the core system development centered around Nintendo Account),” Furukawa said. “When we announced our entry into the mobile business at that time, we needed to let people know that Nintendo would be continuing to focus on the dedicated video game platform business as our core business. So, I believe that the timing of the Nintendo Switch announcement was a special case.”

He concluded: “We will provide information about hardware and software at the appropriate time for each product and strive to reach a wide range of consumers.”

It’s worth noting the entirely different situations Nintendo finds itself in right now than it did back when it first talked about the NX. At that time, of course, the Wii U was struggling severely on the market and showing little to no signs of recovery, while the Switch, even despite slowed sales in recent months, remains one of the most successful consoles ever made with over 125 million units sold.

Does that mean the gap between announcement and launch for the Switch 2 (or whatever it ends up being called) could span just a few months, rather than a couple of years? That remains to be seen, but Nintendo certainly seems to be suggesting that whatever its next console is won’t need as much lead time as the Switch did.

Meanwhile, while the Switch is still sticking around, it doesn’t seem like it’ll be getting a price drop anytime soon- read more on that through here.