New particulars have emerged on Nintendo’s upcoming Switch 2 console, following the corporate formally confirming that it was in growth. During a briefing for the monetary yr ending on March 31, 2024, Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa briefly touched on a number of matters relating to the upcoming video games system.
A number of occasions within the briefing, Furukawa spoke in regards to the “successor to the Nintendo Switch,” suggesting that the brand new system will construct on the inspiration established by the Switch console.
“At this stage, we can not say something extra in regards to the successor to Nintendo Switch,” Furukawa mentioned when requested why that time period was used particularly. “For right this moment’s announcement, we decided that essentially the most acceptable expression to make use of was ‘successor to Nintendo Switch.’ Data will likely be launched in phases main as much as the launch, as we’ve completed with earlier new {hardware} bulletins.”
Whereas Switch gross sales boomed throughout the early years of the COVID-19 pandemic, the worldwide semiconductor scarcity offered new challenges for Nintendo because it struggled to fulfill demand. For the Switch 2, Nintendo would not “anticipate” this to be an issue forward of the launch of the Switch 2. On the similar time, Nintendo’s gross sales forecast for the monetary yr would not at the moment think about Switch 2 gross sales, however that might change in time.
Nintendo says it’s also being “considerably formidable” with its {hardware} gross sales forecast for the present monetary yr and it plans to implement numerous initiatives to promote the forecasted variety of Nintendo Switch consoles and video games. A part of this technique additionally reveals why Nintendo took so lengthy to verify the Switch 2, because it was involved that the announcement might negatively impression gross sales of obtainable Switch consoles.
“We don’t assume the announcement of the successor to Nintendo Switch and future associated communications may have zero impression on Nintendo Switch gross sales,” Furukawa mentioned. “Nevertheless, we hope to maximise gross sales this fiscal yr by sustaining an excellent stability between new demand and demand for a number of programs.”
For its 2023-2024 fiscal yr, Nintendo mentioned that Switch {hardware} declined by 12.6% year-on-year from 17.97 million to fifteen.70 million. Lifetime gross sales for the Switch are at 141.32 million consoles offered, and on the software program aspect, 1.235 billion video games have been offered. Out of all these video games, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe has emerged as Nintendo’s best-selling sport of all time–with one minor caveat–and the corporate has confirmed that it’ll host a Nintendo Direct in June. Simply do not count on particulars about its Switch 2 console, as this occasion will likely be targeted purely on what Switch followers can count on to play within the second half of the yr.