Recent indications are that the Nintendo Switch successor will not be officially announced until some time in Q4 2025, and not be revealed this year. And until then Nintendo will keep calling it…the Nintendo Switch successor, it seems, though they’re revealing some of its functionality early, before showing off the actual console.
Nintendo first announced the new Switch 2 feature at its Corporate Management Policy Briefing, as one does, and then tweeted out confirmation of the fact that the new console will be backward compatible with the games from the original one:
“This is Furukawa. At today’s Corporate Management Policy Briefing, we announced that Nintendo Switch software will also be playable on the successor to Nintendo Switch. Nintendo Switch Online will be available on the successor to Nintendo Switch as well. Further information about the successor to Nintendo Switch, including its compatibility with Nintendo Switch, will be announced at a later date.”
I am really curious what it means when they talk about further compatibility yet to be revealed besides the games, which of course is the main draw here. Can you use current JoyCons with the new system? Can you dock the current Switch in some new dock? In any case, this reinforces the already-known idea that the Switch 2 will not be some radical departure from the Switch like we have seen with generational Nintendo jumps before, namely GameCube to Wii, Wii to Wii U, Wii U to Switch. That appears to be ending now.
You can see why they’re doing this. The Nintendo Switch is now the third best-selling console of all time with 146 million units sold, behind only PlayStation 2 and its own Nintendo DS. It’s the highest-selling Nintendo home console ever, with the Wii in second place, though obviously it also functions are a portable handheld. Sales are slowing and it may not scrape up an additional 8-9 million units which would put it at #1, but we’ll see. And of course Nintendo would love if the Switch 2 outsold it, but given that it may prove to be more of an “upgrade” rather than something brand new, that may not happen.
Nintendo might announce more aspects of the Switch 2 before it’s actually revealed, as this information demonstrates. But do not expect an actual look at the hardware before 2025, and don’t be shocked if it looks…a lot like the current Switch with better graphics.
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