Nintendo has suggested that its next-generation console will be a evolution of the Nintendo Switch.
On May 7, Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa shared a message to social media to coincide with the company’s recent financial results, and confirmed that the company will “make an announcement about the successor to Nintendo Switch within the fiscal year” – which should come before April 2025.
Industry analyst David Gibson also reports that when present during the financial results call, when asked if the Nintendo Switch 2 was brand new, Furukawa answered, “Switch next model is the appropriate way to describe it”.
It’s an interesting term of phrase and seems to suggest that the Switch 2 won’t be a completely new device, but will instead be a continuation – or an evolution – of the original design.
Furakawa also confirmed in the social media post that Nintendo will be holding a Nintendo Direct this June “regarding the Nintendo Switch software lineup for the latter half of 2024”, but asks players to be aware that there won’t be a mention of the next-gen console in the presentation.
Rumors about the Switch 2 have been circulating for quite awhile, with more recent reports suggesting that the console will have an improved performance while docked, but will will be “clocked crazy low” in handheld mode in order to improve battery life.
The confirmation of an announcement arriving before April 2025 aligns with earlier reports that Nintendo had internally delayed the launch of the from this year to early 2025.
We’ve also learned that a Nintendo executive hinted that Switch 2 will feature backwards compatibility, which would allow users to play their current Switch games on the next-generation device, and that the handheld will be larger than its predessor and feature magnetic Joy-Con controllers.
