Next generation Nintendo Switch officially announced… finally!
Ending months and years of speculation, Shuntaro Furukawa, President of Nintendo, confirmed on Twitter today that we’re finally getting a next generation of the hugely popular Nintendo Switch.
Tweeting in both Japanese and English today, Furukawa said: “We will make an announcement about the successor to Nintendo Switch within this fiscal year.”
While announcing an upcoming Nintendo Direct, expectations about Nintendo Switch 2 news are managed by saying: “We will be holding a Nintendo Direct this June regarding the Nintendo Switch software lineup for the latter half of 2024, but please be aware that there will be no mention of the Nintendo Switch successor during that presentation.”
Fans have been eagerly awaiting news on the console for months, but little official information has emerged. Meanwhile various Nintendo Directs have come and gone with no mention of this next generation console.
Previous announcements, including the recent Pokémon Legends: Z-A announcement, have sent the rumor mill into overdrive, particularly with reference to a “simultaneous” release in the game’s trailer, and mention of multiple “Switch systems” in a tweet from the Pokémon Company.
The original Switch has sold more than 130 million units since it was released in 2017 and hasn’t seen too many major blockbuster releases since last year’s Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom and Super Mario Wonder which suggested new titles were being worked on for a next gen platform.
More recently, a lot of players had started to complain that the original hardware was struggling with the newer games leading to playability issues with various games glitching and stuttering.
Various leaks have emerged about the new console, including it having an 8-inch screen, magnetically attached Joy-Cons and additional buttons on the Joy-Cons. Of course, none of these leaks should be believed until we see the official release, but it’s fun to speculate.
It’s no surprise that Nintendo is treading carefully with the launch of the next gen Switch. The current Switch has been an astronomical success – it’s the third-best-selling console of all time, with only the PlayStation 2 and the Nintendo DS beating it.
We’ll be waiting with baited breath for the big reveal, but for now, let’s enjoy the Nintendo Direct in June where we’ll learn more about the games we can enjoy until the end of 2024.
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