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Dev kits for the Nintendo Switch 2 have been sent out ahead of a late-2024 launch.
Nintendo’s long-rumoured successor to the Switch is reportedly launching in the second half of 2024. According to a VGC report, development on the next-gen console is well underway with early console kits now in the hands of third-party developers.
It’s standard procedure for console makers to pass out development kits for upcoming devices to game studios, so that they can start work on game ports early. VGC states that Nintendo is already passing out early versions of the Switch successor to ‘key partner studios’ for this reason, ahead of a launch window set for the second half of 2024. Eurogamer has since corroborated this launch window, making it pretty definite. The late launch window is attributed to Nintendo wanting to ensure that it doesn’t run into stock problems, which happened to the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S.
Interestingly, VGC also confirms that the next Switch console will be usable in handheld mode, just like its predecessor. Unlike the latest Switch version, which comes with an OLED screen, the publication reports that the new console could launch with an LCD screen to lower costs seeing as better graphical fidelity will demand more storage, which is expensive to accomodate. The new console will still support physical game cartridges, however.
Further details on the upcoming console are up in the air, such as whether or not the console will support older-gen games. The Nintendo Switch famously did not support Wii games at launch, but ported a few of them over the course of its unusually long lifetime. During a Q&A session in 2022 however, Nintendo said that it wants to, “expand and grow,” the Switch’s then-100 million user count leading into its next-gen device. The company wants to carry over all of the Switch’s users to the next console, which can only happen if some form of backwards-compatibility is involved.
However, this would come between Nintendo’s business strategy for older games on the Switch - which is to resell them to users with the promise of better visuals or extra features. If users can simply carry over their existing game libraries, all those sales would be lost. The Nintendo Switch has enjoyed a strong year of releases in 2023, with the launch of The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, expansions for Pokemon Scarlet and Violet, Pikmin 4 and more games set to launch later this year.
When the Nintendo Switch 2 launches in 2024, it will likely have a strong lineup of its own for fans to look forward to. Or at least, one can hope.