The original Nintendo Switch first went on sale in late 2017, and since then the various versions of the company"s current game console have shipped over 125 million units worldwide. Many people have been speculating about when a successor to the Switch might launch. Today, a new report claims to have a target release timeframe, along with a couple of small hardware details.
VGC reports, via several unnamed sources, that Nintendo will launch a next-gen console sometime in the second half of 2024. It added that development kits for this unnamed console are already in place "with key partner studios".
The report adds that the next console is expected to include a portable mode similar to the current Switch console. However, a couple of sources expect that Nintendo will launch the console with a LCD display for its portable version, in order to keep costs down. Nintendo did launch an OLED version of the Switch in October 2021.
The report also claims that the next Nintendo console will still include a cartridge slot so that people who prefer to purchase physical games can continue to do so. However, it added that it"s unclear if Nintendo will include backwards compatibility with older Switch games with its new console.
If the new console does launch sometime in the second half of 2024, it might have more launch games than the Switch did when it first went on sale in March 2017. The story quotes ReedPop’s head of games B2B, Christopher Dring, as saying:
In 2017, Nintendo spread out its releases, with a big game arriving almost every month. By the time the Holiday period arrived, the firm had Mario, Zelda, Splatoon and Mario Kart – plus a number of smaller titles like Arms and Xenoblade – to push the console over the crucial Christmas sales window. If Nintendo opts for a Q4 release next year, I’d expect the company to have multiple games ready to go for launch.
Officially, Nintendo has yet to confirm that a next-gen console from the company is indeed in the works, so take reports like this with a grain of salt.