The eagerly awaited Nintendo Switch successor, presently nicknamed the Switch 2, could finally arrive could finally be on the way, a report from Bloomberg has suggested. Although the six-year-old hardware continues to hold its own, its age is certainly noticeable, making a successor a likely and welcome next step. However, it could be a while away.
While Bloomberg claimed Nintendo was aiming to have the new Switch out later this year, Japanese news publication Nikkei suggested the technology company is eyeing a March 2025 release date. By all accounts. By all accounts, “priority was given to ensure the initial inventory of the successor console and a lineup of software titles at the time of its launch”, which may well be an attempt to avoid reselling.
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Even though no pricing info was teased, Bloomberg reports that Hiroshi Hayase, an analyst from the independent consultancy firm Omdia, states that the new Nintendo console “will be responsible for a doubling in shipments of so-called amusement displays in 2024”. Moreover, Sharp Corp, the company that worked with Nintendo as the assembler for the original Switch, revealed last year that they are currently busy with the production of a mysterious upcoming gaming console along with the supply of LCD displays.
While Nintendo hasn’t announced or even confirmed the existence of Switch 2, all signs point to the possibility that we could likely see a new console soon. The news of the new LCD screen is definitely disappointing for Switch fans who prefer handheld gaming, as LCD screens usually don’t offer deep blacks or higher contrast. While Nintendo may release an OLED version of the Switch 2 later on, its absence at launch sure feels like a missed opportunity.
As for what the Switch 2 might feature beneath its screen, the rumoured specs, as highlighted by RedGamingTech in their YouTube video for the Switch 2, include an eight-core Cortex-A78AE processor, 10 streaming multiprocessors, 8GB memory, and 64GB eMMC storage. Even though these specs appear relatively underwhelming and quite modest, we know how efficient Nintendo and its developers are in squeezing all the performance from the hardware. Also, these are only unconfirmed leaks, and the company may yet surprise us with hidden features or a potentially more powerful revision.
Backwards compatibility also remains a key question for the Switch 2, given the massive library of games playable on the original. Nintendo has been tight-lipped about the Switch 2, but company president Doug Bowser hinted that the Nintendo Account will ease any future “transition.”
Talking with Inverse, Bowser said, “Our goal is to minimise the dip you typically see in the last year of one cycle and the beginning of another. I can’t speak to the possible features of a new platform, but the Nintendo Account is a strong basis for having that communication as we make the transition.”
