In the most disappointing way possible, Nintendo confirmed years of rumors on Tuesday: the Nintendo Switch 2 console is on the way.
“We will make an announcement about the successor to Nintendo Switch this fiscal year,” Nintendo President Shuntaro Furukawa wrote on X.
This wasn’t the actual console announcement, mind you. Furukawa instead wanted to warn users not to expect the actual announcement during next month’s Nintendo Direct livestream.
“We will be hosting a Nintendo Direct in June regarding the Nintendo Switch software lineup for the second half of 2024, but please be aware that there will be no mention of the Nintendo Switch successor during this presentation,” we can read in the message.
Nintendo’s fiscal year ends in March, which means we may have to wait until spring 2025 to hear what’s next for the Switch, which released nine years ago.
Launched in 2015, the Nintendo Switch has been a huge success for the Japanese video game company. To date, Nintendo has sold over 141 million units, making the Switch the third best-selling console of all time, behind the Nintendo DS and PlayStation 2.
The Switch became so popular because it was the first commercially successful gaming hardware that could be played as both a handheld device and a desktop console connected to an external display. The fortuitous release of “Animal Crossing: New Horizons” at the start of global coronavirus lockdowns was also a boon for Nintendo. Between March and November 2020, Nintendo sold 12 million Switch consoles, an increase of 73% compared to the same period a year earlier. The company even had to revise its financial forecasts that year to make them 50% higher than expected.
Nintendo’s sneaky announcement accompanied its quarterly earnings report. The company’s hardware sales were down 12.6% year-over-year, which is natural when its flagship console has been available for nearly a decade. Yet the Switch remains extremely popular, thanks to blockbuster exclusive titles like “The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Realm“, the long-awaited sequel to the classic”Breath of the Wild.”
“Tears of the Kingdom” sold 20.6 million copies over the past year, while “Super Mario Bros. Wonder” has sold 13.44 million copies. Independent developers continue to release games for the Switch, which players can download through the Nintendo eShop. That, and the fact that Nintendo allowed users to play its older consoles. games on Switch, has kept the console fresh even after nine years.
So which will come first: Nintendo Switch 2 or Silksong?
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