Those hopes firmed up with an Omdia forecast in January pointing to a new 8-inch Switch device coming in 2024. Now seven years old, the original hybrid-handheld console has outlived most rivals thanks to a succession of hit releases from Nintendo's creative studios.
Last year, however, it fell behind Sony Group Corp.'s surging PlayStation 5, which became the best-selling console in the US, according to Circana. Microsoft Corp.'s Xbox division also gained a big hit in January with Palworld, a game drawing inspiration from Nintendo's Pokémon franchise, which has attracted millions of players to the Xbox Game Pass subscription service.
Nintendo remained tight-lipped about any Switch successor plan, with Furukawa declining to comment beyond saying that the company is always researching new hardware and software. Nintendo would benefit from a hardware upgrade in contending with Sony's expanding PS5 user base and Microsoft's cloud-gaming push. The absence of marquee titles on its software release schedule this year is seen as another sign that the company is potentially holding releases back until it has the new platform in place.
"Nintendo is keeping their blockbusters in the oven for now, as they must make sure to have a killer lineup for when the Switch successor launches," industry analyst Serkan Toto said ahead of the earnings report.
