Nintendo President Shuntaro Furukawa has just confirmed important news to investors: no new machine like a possible Switch 2 will be launched before the end of the current fiscal year, April 2024.
This has the merit of putting an end to the hopes of the players and to the latest rumours. During the recent presentation of Nintendo’s latest financial resultsBigN President Shuntaro Furukawa announced some big news: the manufacturer does not intend to launch a new machine or upgraded versions of the Switch before the end of the current fiscal year, or April 2024.
This decision comes as Nintendo records a sharp drop in sales of the Switch, up to 22% over the last twelve months. Thus, the Japanese brand sold only 18 million consoles over this period. A great performance certainly, but which is far from equaling the great years of the machine.
Despite everything, Nintendo was confident, as evidenced by its predictions for next year: 15 million consoles sold. Rather optimistic objectives, especially when we now know that BigN will have to rely solely on sales of the Switch, and not on those of a new machine or a new and improved version of its hybrid console.
Also read: Nintendo Switch 2 – next-gen games are already in the works, the launch is approaching
Nintendo prefers to wait until the end of 2024 before launching another console
As our colleagues fromEurogamer, the declaration of the CEO of Nintendo is far from surprising the specialists of the industry. Piers Harding-Rolls, an analyst for Ampere Analysis, also expected the Switch 2 will rather make its entry towards the end of 2024.
“There is still some life on the Switch platform. I expect the new Zelda to boost hardware sales with those upgrading from older versions to the latest OLED model and likely some new Switch buyers. This will help Nintendo reach its goal of 15 million shipments for the fiscal year ending at the end of March 2024. Game sales remain quite strong, especially for First Party titles (Editor’s note: exclusive games developed by Nintendo studios)”, he believes.
It is true that the latest figures from the Japanese giant have demonstrated the striking power of its exclusivities. With 22 million copies sold, Pokémon Scarlet and Violet is Nintendo’s biggest hit of 2023, while Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is still a hit after a 5-year career, with 53.7 million games sold. And it’s a safe bet that the manufacturer is counting on the worldwide success of The Legend of Zelda Tears of The Kingdom to offer the Switch a masterful last stand.
