Nintendo Switch 2 won't arrive before March 2024
The Japanese company has said not to expect any new or upgraded Switch hardware in the coming financial year
Nintendo has admitted it’s now in “unknown territory” as the Switch continues to sell millions of units each year. However, it did concede that because the hybrid console is now six years old, sales are dwindling, dropping by more than 20% each year.
It begs the question, then: when will we see the Nintendo Switch 2? Well, it won’t be this year, according to Nintendo.
Following the company’s most recent financial results, Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa told investors that no new hardware is expected this financial year, which ends on March 2024 (thanks, Bloomberg).
➡️ The Shortcut Skinny: Nintendo Switch 2
✋ Don’t expect a Nintendo Switch successor anytime soon
😔 Nintendo has ruled out any new hardware until after March 2024
📈 Switch is still selling well, but it’s dropping year on year
👑 The next big Switch game is Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
Speaking to Eurogamer, games industry analyst Piers Harding-Rolls of Ampere Analysis believes new Switch hardware will finally arrive towards the end of 2024 instead.
“There is still some life in the Switch platform yet,” Harding-Rolls told Eurogamer. “I expect the new Zelda [Tears of the Kingdom] to drive hardware sales to those upgrading from older versions to the latest OLED model and probably from some entirely new Switch buyers. That will help Nintendo reach its 15m shipment target for the year ending March '24. Software sales remain pretty robust, especially for first-party titles."
Hardings-Rolls went on to say that “Ampere expects a next-gen Nintendo console to be released in late 2024.”
A source close to Nintendo told Nikkei Asia that the successor to the Switch is well underway, and also believes that we’ll see new hardware after spring next year.
“Development seems to be progressing well,” said Nikkei Asia’s source. “But a product launch won’t happen before next spring at the earliest.”
Nintendo still has The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom set to release on May 12, which should help shift some more consoles, particularly the limited edition Zelda OLED. However, the release schedule after Zelda arrives is looking a little thin on the ground.
That won’t stop Nintendo from shifting more units of the best Mario games for Switch and the best Nintendo Switch games, but it has to be careful not to move onto the next big thing too quickly and miss out on Switch sales. Conversely, it also needs to ensure that the Switch’s momentum doesn’t peter out.