Here’s what we know about the possible Switch successor

It’s been over six years since the Nintendo Switch was launched. With its innovative concept, it managed to become a real bestseller despite comparatively little power. The great success of the Nintendo Switch is still standing in the way of the release of the Switch 2 or the Switch Pro. Nevertheless, it is very likely that Nintendo is already working on a new console and we shouldn’t be far from the first official information. Here’s everything we already know about the Nintendo Switch 2.

As early as 2021 there were rumors that a Switch 2 or an improved Switch Pro could be released in the near future. In fact, the switch OLED came onto the market shortly thereafter, which, apart from the screen and speakers, was reluctant to make any technical innovations.

Also read: Nintendo Switch, OLED and Lite – which model is right for you?

At the end of 2021, Nintendo President Shundaro Furukawa announced that the Switch was only halfway through its lifespan. According to this statement, a Switch 2 would not be expected until 2026. However, there are now clear signs of an earlier date. Instead of a Switch Pro, Nintendo seems to want to go straight to the Switch 2.

The release year is speculated to be 2024. But it is also a fact that many of the previous rumors turned out to be false. What is certain is Furukawa’s statement that no switch revision is planned before March 2024. If you assume a release in 2024, that also means: The Switch 2 must already exist at least as a developer kit, because the game developers need a lot of lead time to complete blockbuster titles for new consoles.

Choosing an announcement date shouldn’t be easy for Nintendo, however. After all, you have to create enough buzz before the market launch. At the same time, you shouldn’t look at the cards too early in order not to reduce sales of the current console. This should be a factor, especially with a view to the Christmas business in 2023. Nintendo is consistently taking legal action against leakers.

For the sake of simplicity, we will refer to the Switch 2 in this article. However, there is still no official name for the Switch successor. Nintendo is much more creative when naming its products than, for example, Sony with the Playstation 1 to 5. It is also possible that the new Switch will ultimately be called “Switch Pro”, but ultimately it will be equivalent to a Switch 2 due to a larger leap in performance .

With its previous consoles, Nintendo has always moved below the price segment of Xbox and Playstation. It is very likely that the Switch 2 will remain so. Nevertheless, the price of the new console should be slightly higher than that of its predecessor, if only because of inflation and more powerful technology.

The current Nintendo Switch (OLED model) currently costs between 330 and 340 euros*. The switch light is available for around 200 euros*. It should be noted that Nintendo has had little reason to lower the price of the switch given the strong sales figures. This would be another lever to keep the heel constant, which could push the release of the successor console backwards.

In addition to a higher resolution, the Nintendo Switch urgently needs more power and storage space. Even if there were always games on the switch that you would not have thought technically possible at first glance, the console is now quite outdated. Given Nintendo’s past business policy, one shouldn’t expect a high-end console like the PS5, but a technical upgrade would definitely be necessary. But at least 4K – and thus a similar graphic power as a Playstation 4 – should be expected. In the meantime, the chips for mobile devices have also made great progress. However, there are no exact details yet.

Nintendo had given its last console an OLED screen. rumours point to an LCD screen from the manufacturer Sharp for the Switch 2. In addition, there is always speculation that the console should be able to deliver 4K resolution – but when connected to a television and not via the built-in display.

Given the tremendous success of the Nintendo Switch and its games, Nintendo should make them playable on the Switch 2 as well. Just to provide another selling point for the new console.

In any case, the first rumors speak in favor of this approach: In a Job ad, about the first among other things PC Games had reported Nintendo is looking for developers for future Nintendo platforms and explicitly mentions “cross-platform development” as one of several activities for the position.

There is no concrete information on this topic yet. However, Nintendo faces a major challenge. If the company decides on a clean cut and quickly moves on to releasing new games exclusively for the Switch 2, many fans will be alienated. Sony, for example, continues to serve the Playstation 4 and is only gradually bringing games exclusively to the PS5.

For Nintendo, however, such a smooth transition is likely to be less easy. Because the technology of the current switch is outdated. When the Switch 2 comes out, it would have to make a much bigger jump in terms of performance and graphics than it did from the PS4 to the PS5. That would make parallel development of new titles for Switch 1 and Switch 2 much more complicated.