Nintendo Switch Pro — we've got some bad news

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Nintendo has no immediate plans for a Nintendo Switch Pro

Nintendo Switch
(Image credit: Tom's Guide)

Nintendo has always kept to its own schedule, and that still seems to be the case with a potential Nintendo Switch Pro console. The company has never given an official indication that it’s working on a Switch Pro, Switch 2, Super Switch or whatever else you’d like to call a next-gen version of Nintendo’s hit hybrid platform.

Still, that hasn’t prevented rampant fan and industry speculation about what a Switch successor might look like — and how soon we might get it. However, Nintendo has finally stepped in to clarify that if you’ve been waiting for a Switch Pro, you’ll have to keep waiting.

The latest information comes from Bloomberg, which covered Nintendo’s quarterly earnings meeting. The big takeaway is that Nintendo had an incredibly profitable quarter, largely due to Switch sales. (This will not shock anyone who attempted to get a Switch for the holidays, and found that units were almost as hard to come by as a PS5 or Xbox Series X.) One participant did ask whether Nintendo planned to release a new Switch model, to which the company replied, essentially, “not anytime soon.”

Since we don’t have an exact transcript (and if we did, there would be a language barrier in place), it’s hard to say exactly what Nintendo’s timetable for a new console is. Still, if the company had plans to release a new system in the near future, it could have given a coyer answer — or just said “expect more information shortly.” If Nintendo says we’re not getting a Switch Pro anytime soon, it probably means we’re not getting a Switch Pro anytime soon.

This isn’t surprising, though. Nintendo has previously stated that the Switch is only about halfway through its intended life cycle. The company has never indicated that it has plans for a Switch successor, or an updated version of the console, like the PS4 Pro or the Xbox One X. While fans and analysts have speculated breathlessly about what a Switch Pro might look like, it’s been mostly just wishful thinking and extrapolations based on patents.

As for when we might see a Switch upgrade, or a new console entirely, that’s hard to say. At the very least, it seems unlikely that Nintendo will put out new hardware in 2021. Still, that does raise the question of what the company will put out instead. The Legend of Zelda’s 35th anniversary will take place later this month, so the Big N might have some Zelda-related plans for later this year to share then. Otherwise, though, the rest of the year looks pretty light on first-party games, except for a Switch port of Super Mario 3D World, with a new expansion called Bowser’s Fury.

Marshall Honorof
Marshall Honorof

Marshall Honorof was a senior editor for Tom's Guide, overseeing the site's coverage of gaming hardware and software. He comes from a science writing background, having studied paleomammalogy, biological anthropology, and the history of science and technology. After hours, you can find him practicing taekwondo or doing deep dives on classic sci-fi.