Will we ever see a new Nintendo Switch/Switch Pro?

It’s that time of year again, Nintendo have just finished another Nintendo Direct and with hype games announcements such as Octopath Traveller II and Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom the conversation as to whether or not Nintendo will release a new console is back around. Will they? Won’t they? Well in this article I’m going to break down the reasons as to why they would and wouldn’t release a new console/more powerful Switch anytime soon.

A major argument in favour of a Switch 2 and/or pro is that Nintendo is starting to release more ‘cloud versions’ of major console games such as Hitman and Resident Evil VIII. These cloud versions offload a large chunk of the games processing to the cloud, allowing the game to run smoothly, or run full stop, on a Nintendo switch. If Nintendo were to release a more powerful machine they would be able to get more and more triple A games on their platform.

Furthermore, Nintendo recently released a trailer for a Switch version of Game of the Year Contender Sifu that looked choppier than a chef cutting vegetables on a helicopter. It is unclear at time of writing if this is an issue with the switch or a bad port. I believe it’s mostly the fault of a bad port as Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is a significantly larger game that runs smoothly and looks great on switch. Buty an argument could be made that a more powerful system would allow the port team at sloclap, or whichever studio was tasked with the port, to have an easier time of porting the game to switch consoles.

However, the biggest argument against both these points is that Nintendo are not in the business of competing with Xbox, Sony or PC. and i both need to keep their consoles/services up to date so they do not fall behind the other in competition. Nintendo has always been open that they are in the business of selling toys rather than consoles. The switch looking like a family friendly little guy is incredibly intentional. There’s a reason it’s not a black or white box.

We also need to ask how things would change if Nnintendo did release a more powerful console. Nintendo’s big first party games still run great on the Switch and are still selling like hot cakes (I’ve never bought a hot cake by the way, they’re usually room temp or cold. Why buy it hot?). If the games are selling well, the console is selling well, why put money into an upgrade that won’t boost already high sales?

Nintendo are going to milk this money making marvel for all it’s worth. Look at the DS family of consoles. Nintendo considers the first DS to the New 2DS XL to be one family of consoles. Officially ending support for the DS platforms in March 2023, that is 19 years of support for one console. The switch is set to be more successful than the DS ever will be (which is an insane statement to make, I agree). If this is the case for a weaker piece of hardware, is there really reason for Nintendo to release a new one?

I would LOVE a more powerful Switch, but what new games would we even play on it? In addition, I don’t think it’s fair to segment the player base in this way. One of the saddest moments of my early teen years was not being able to DS Download Play my new 3DS games with my friends who had any model of DS prior. Nintendo is trying more and more to have good online experiences, ie: the great reception to Splatoon 3, so I highly doubt that Nintendo will want to segment an incredibly strong player base.

I don’t doubt that a more powerful switch is on the way but I believe that Nintendo is in no rush to release it as switch sales are not dipping any time soon and switch players are still buying their games in joves. I believe the most likely situation is that Nintendo releases small updated Switches like the red box switch, which was a switch with a better battery life, that was quietly released to replace the original launch Switch. If you knew, you knew, if you didn’t, well they don't even make that original Switch anymore.

It makes little financial sense for Nintendo to make a more powerful switch for a vocal minority of gamers and I do not think the demand is high enough to justify it either as this is a conversation I mostly hear amongst games journalists and people who game daily. My casual gaming friends who own a switch are happy with Animal Crossing and Mario Kart.