Nintendo might not have a new system ready to compete with the PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series X this holiday season, but the company is already thinking about its next console, even though the planned lifespan for the Switch will be longer than anyone expected. Nintendo wanted to sell fifty million Switch units by March and it hit that goal over the 2019 holiday season, which means that the Switch has now outsold the Super Nintendo in terms of lifetime sales.
Fans have been expecting an updated version of the Nintendo Switch for a while now, but the incredible sales of the base version of the Switch mean that the company isn’t in any rush to bring an advanced version of the system to the market just yet. The PlayStation 5 will be released during the 2020 holiday season, as will the Xbox Series X, so it would make sense for Nintendo to have a new Switch ready to compete in the upcoming console war, but the company has confirmed that no new Switch models will be released this year.
While there may not be any new Switch models released in 2020, Nintendo is still preparing for its future. Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa recently answered questions during an investor meeting (as translated by Video Games Chronicle) and he confirmed that the company is thinking about its next system, but the Switch is still the focus for the time being and it will have a longer lifespan than its predecessors.
The Nintendo Switch has sold incredibly well around the world, but that might soon change. There is still a lot we don’t know about the PlayStation 5 and the Xbox Series X, so it’s possible that those systems will have killer features that will destroy Nintendo’s momentum. Furukawa has said that Nintendo isn’t worried about the next-gen consoles, but there must be internal pressure to make sure that the Switch isn’t forgotten about in 2020, as Microsoft and Sony will soon be rolling out the promotional machines for their next systems.
“We are also looking into the current market and feel there are many different ways to think about future console development. On the other hand, software is also very important. So in the short term, while the Nintendo Switch install base continues to expand, we must place a lot of focus on that. By placing our main focus on the Nintendo Switch, we feel we can have a very different (longer) hardware life cycle than previous Nintendo consoles.”
If the Switch is going to have a longer lifespan than normal, then we might not see another Nintendo console for another five years. The gaming landscape could be a lot different then and a straight successor to the Switch with better graphics might not be on the cards. The Switch has managed to win audiences around the world with its incredible hybrid gimmick and a stellar line-up of games, which might just be enough to keep the system relevant in the next console generation.
Next: The Wonderful 101: Remastered Comes to Kickstarter for PC, PS4, and Switch Ports
Source: Video Games Chronicle
