The Nintendo Switch turned six earlier this month, and the speculation around the device’s successor is only intensifying with each passing year. While we currently have precious few concrete details about the Nintendo Switch 2, the gaming company’s top boss has recently teased that we can expect whatever comes next to “surprise and delight.”
Nintendo Switch 2: Nintendo breaks its silence
In a recent Q&A with Associated Press (via U.K. publication The Daily Mail (opens in new tab)), Nintendo boss Doug Bowser was directly asked when the Switch’s successor would be released. Naturally, the PR-savvy president mostly avoided the question by instead highlighting the phenomenal performance of the current Switch console, but he did hint at what Nintendo hopes to achieve with a follow-up.
“One of the things we look at always is how can we surprise and delight. How can we introduce new unique ways of playing. That´s always in front of our mind,” said Bowser. He couldn’t be drawn much further noting that he “should be careful about what I personally would like to see [in a new Switch].” But even so, the above quote does at least draw our intrigue as we await further news about what is next for Nintendo in the hardware space.
One of the things we look at always is how can we surprise and delight. How can we introduce new unique ways of playing. That´s always in front of our mind.
Doug Bowser, Nintendo
To Bowser’s point, Nintendo certainly has a reputation for unexpected moves. For example, the widely-successful Nintendo Wii launched the motion-controls crazy of the mid-00s, and not many people expected the company would follow up that juggernaut console with a machine built around a tablet-style controller, the Nintendo Wii U.
While that console ultimately flopped, the proceeding Nintendo Switch has been another success story. The hybrid home console/handheld system has sold more than 122 million units to date according to the company’s latest earnings report (opens in new tab).
What to expect from the Switch 2
Even with Nintendo’s penchant for moves that come completely out of left field, we would still expect the Nintendo Switch 2 to be more of an iterative step forward. At the very least we could see an upgrade to 4K-ready graphics to catch up to the likes of the PS5 and Xbox Series X.
The Switch’s core concept has proved extremely appealing, and its combination of a home console and a handheld in a single device makes it an attractive purchase for both gamers and parents. However, this is Nintendo we’re talking about, so you never can be quite sure what the legendary gaming company will do next.
As for when we hope to see the Switch 2, the second half of this year seems the very earliest we could finally get official details, but we wouldn’t expect an actual release until sometime in 2024. Given that the Switch’s aging hardware is now starting to become a harsh limit on developers, it does feel like the time is right for a successor to be confirmed.
A reveal in the latter half of this year would also make the upcoming The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom effectively the Switch’s swansong. This feels very appropriate as its predecessor, Breath of the Wild, launched alongside the system back in 2017. Beginning and ending the Switch’s lifecycle with a new mainline Zelda game would create a sense of the Switch having come full circle.
