to update [Tue 7th May, 2024 19:12 BST]: On the earnings call after the release of the year-end financials, President Shuntaro Furakawa was reportedly asked if the Switch’s “successor” would be an entirely new console.
According to David Gibson, senior research analyst at MST Financial, Furakwa’s response seems to indicate that it will be similar to the current key:
Of course, an official translation will be available in the coming days, so it’s worth taking this with a pinch of salt, but that’s not too surprising to hear given the Switch’s huge success.
Original article [Tue 7th May, 2024 08:22 BST]: Nintendo’s next console will be announced “during this fiscal year,” according to Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa.
In a statement issued at the same time as Nintendo’s year-end financials, the company’s president highlighted that it has been more than nine years since the current Nintendo Switch – or “NX” as it was then known – was announced in 2015. Related news is to come. The next system will be announced sometime before the end of March 2025.
He also announced that There will be a Nintendo Direct in Junealthough it will focus on the current Nintendo Switch software and the so-called “Switch 2” will not be mentioned during the presentation.
Below is the full statement as posted on Twitter:
This is Furukawa, the president of Nintendo. We will be announcing the successor to the Nintendo Switch during this fiscal year. It’s been over nine years since we announced the existence of the Nintendo Switch back in March 2015. We’ll be holding a Nintendo Direct next June regarding the Nintendo Switch’s software lineup for the latter half of 2024, but please know that there will be no mention of a Nintendo Switch successor during this show.
With rumors continuing to go into overtime when it comes to the so-called “Switch 2,” Nintendo is clearly trying to set expectations with this statement and avoid disappointing anxious fans for the rest of the year. Although a Nintendo Direct in June has been taken for granted in years past, confirming the presentation this early is an unusual move.
Back in February, Shuntaro Furukawa said the current Switch would be Nintendo’s “mainstream business” until 2024, at which time he declined to comment on plans for new hardware.
Details and speculation about the long-rumored new hardware have recently come to light, with one such piece of information suggesting that the new console will feature new Joy-Con-style controllers that attach to the console magnetically.
