The Switch is just two months shy of its sixth birthday. Nintendo’s hybrid console is probably already the second best-selling console of all time (only the Playstation 2 is ahead, and the Nintendo DS and you count portable). The latest figures show that there are roughly 120 million units in homes around the world, putting it roughly on par with the Playstation 4, and the company’s goal for 2023 is to sell another 20 million units.
But it is also a fact that in terms of hardware the system lags far behind the needs of today’s software. A console with components from six years ago – and which wasn’t exactly the worst thing even at the premiere – of course has a hard time offering the latest titles, which gives graphical limitations and sacrifices in quality and performance. But now we seem to be on the way to a generational change.
The well-regarded Japanese site Nikkei (via Reddit) have today published an article in which they report that Nintendo is already in talks with component suppliers to begin production of the Switch’s successor, which is expected to go on sale in mid-2024. A claim that Nintendo has not confirmed at the time of writing, but which is in line with the latest rumours.
Whether it will be Nvidia who gets the honor of supplying the components again next time is unknown, but if the successor comes in just over a year, it would likely make The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom the last major Nintendo release for the format, judging from what is now unannounced.
You can imagine that Nintendo was hyped for the premiere with, among other things, a new Mario Kart, a 3D platform game with Mario and Smash Bros, since none of these three strong brands have had anything new in five years.
