Tech

The next Nintendo console looks set for release in late 2024

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In brief: We’ve heard lots of speculation and rumors about Nintendo’s next console. According to a new report, fans will be waiting a while before it arrives: late 2024. Whether it will be a Switch 2, a Switch Pro, or something else remains unknown.

The Nintendo Switch has been a phenomenal success since it launched in 2017. In less than six years, it has sold over 122 million units, making it the third-best-selling console ever. Talk of a successor has increased recently, and the latest claim comes from a report by Ampere Analysis.

The report focuses on consumer spending within the video games industry and examines unit sales of each major console. It also contains a brief reference to a new Nintendo console that’s set to launch toward the end of 2024.

Last month brought more news of a potential Switch successor from an unlikely source. The UK government’s Microsoft Activision acquisition files briefly mentioned the Nintendo Switch Online (NSO) subscription, which offers retro games and Game Boy titles. It states that NSO is only available on the Nintendo Switch and another device, the name of which is redacted in the report. Many believe this unnamed machine is a future Nintendo console.

Speaking on The Digital Foundry Direct Weekly podcast in December, John Linneman said a Switch Pro was planned by Nintendo but canceled, partly due to fears of it becoming another Wii U situation – i.e., following a successful console with a total flop. He does believe, however, that a next-generation Switch 2 (or whatever it’ll be called), possibly packing Nvidia’s Tegra T239 SoC, DLSS, and more features, will arrive after 2023.

All of this is still unconfirmed, of course; one claim is that an upgraded Nintendo Switch will arrive as soon as this winter.

Ampere Analysis’ report also reveals that global console spending was down 7.8% year-on-year in 2022 to $56.2 billion, while game revenue was down 9.3% to $32.6 billion. It was a good year for Sony, which took a majority 45% market share for all money spent on console games, hardware, and services, helped by the PlayStation 5 reaching an install base of 30 million. The Xbox Series X/S, meanwhile, is estimated to have lifetime sales of 18.5 million.



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