Gamers who have been waiting years for Nintendo to release a successor to its popular Switch console finally have a clue as to when the upgraded device will arrive.
Nintendo President Shuntaro Furukawa said on Tuesday. post On X (formerly Twitter), the Japanese tech giant announced that it will unveil a new Switch within the current fiscal year, which ends in March 2025.
Nintendo did not reveal additional details, including the release date of the Switch 2 console, as it is called. The company did not respond to requests for comment. Nintendo told video game publishers in February that the device's release would be delayed until early 2025, Bloomberg reported.
The announcement of the new Switch system will give Nintendo a boost in the fiercely competitive video game market, which includes Sony's PlayStation and Microsoft's Xbox. The global video game market is expected to grow to $583.6 billion by 2030, according to business consulting firm Grand View Research.
The Switch quickly became a hit for Nintendo when it launched in 2017, thanks to its unique design and wide selection of games. The device resembles a tablet and has removable buttons on each side that players use to control gameplay. It can also be docked to a charging station, allowing users to continue playing on their TV screen. This was a first of its kind at the time.
Nintendo's first handheld game console, the Game Boy, was released in 1989, but the company didn't release another handheld game console until 2004, when the DS hit U.S. stores. Another 13 years passed before Nintendo released the Switch. Customers in major cities throughout the United States, We camped outside in long lines. The day before the Switch itself was released in 2017.
In 2019, Nintendo Introduced Switch Lite, a cheaper version of the gaming system.switch Sales soared in 2020 during the pandemic That's because Americans stuck at home are turning to games to kill time.
Some of Nintendo's best-selling video game titles, including The Legend of Zelda, Pokemon, Minecraft, Super Mario, and Super Smash Bros., can all be played on the Switch, making the device even more appealing to gamers. Nintendo plans to announce new games for the Switch at an internal event next month, but Furukawa also said on Tuesday that the next presentation will not include details about the Switch's successor.
The Switch is currently Nintendo's second best-selling game console after the DS. According to company data, Nintendo has sold more than 141 million Switch consoles.
By comparison, the company has sold 154 million DS consoles and 76 million Nintendo 3DS. Nintendo sold his Wii 101 million units and Wii U 13.5 million units.
Nintendo reported profit of $3 billion for the fiscal year ending March 2024, up from $2.8 billion in the previous year.
—The Associated Press contributed to this report.
