Nintendo teases Switch successor announcement

Nintendo has been teasing gamers about the release date of the Switch’s successor, but fans may have to wait over a year before trying the new console.

THE Japanese video game giant‘s Switch console, which can be played on a handheld handset or TV screen, was first released in 2017.

Speculation has increased in recent months about the release date of the next generation of the console, which would be called Switch 2.

But in its financial results released Tuesday, the Kyoto-based company said it would make an announcement before March 2025, the end of the current fiscal year.

Nintendo didn’t give any details about the announcement, including whether it would launch the successor before March next year or whether it would simply reveal its plans.

“Many users will now be hesitant to buy the current Switch because they know the new model will be released in 2025,” said Serkan Toto, founder of consultancy Kantan Games.

Despite the lack of details on the release date of the Switch, some of the successor’s new features are already circulating in rumors in the video game world.

Spanish gaming news website Vandal announced last month that the successor would be larger, but not as large as rival console Steam Deck.

The Switch’s distinctive controllers – which can detach from the console to form a new control for playing on a TV screen – would magnetically lock onto the handset, instead of sliding into the rails.

Vandal also adds that manufacturers believe games for the current Switch will be playable on the new version.

Nintendo has sold 141 million Switch consoles worldwide, making it the third best-selling console of all time.

While the console has been on shelves since 2017, Nintendo introduced a smaller version in 2019 before launches its OLED model – with a high-end screen – in October 2021.

And after the success of new game The Legend of Zelda last year, Nintendo will release Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door later this month and Luigi’s Mansion 2 in June.

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“Game development has become more sophisticated, time-consuming and complex,” Nintendo President Shuntaro Furukawa said when asked how the market has changed since the Switch’s launch.