With the release of Microsoft’s Xbox Series X/S on November 10, 2020 and Sony’s PlayStation 5 on November 12, 2020, we’ve officially been in the ninth generation of video game consoles for about two years now. However, Nintendo’s last console release was actually the Nintendo Switch back on March 3, 2017. Indeed, we’re now approaching the sixth year for the Switch.
We recently reported on how Nintendo was, at one point, planning on releasing a Switch Pro, but these plans have seemingly been cancelled. Though the Switch now stands as the company’s highest-selling console (114.33 million as of November 2022), all things must eventually come to an end.
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is currently slated to be Nintendo’s next big first-party release for the Switch. According to Christopher Dring of GamesIndustry.biz and Andy Robinson of VGC, there’s a very good chance that The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom could be the very last major first-party title for the Switch (as reported via GamesRadar).
No, I didn’t mean literally nothing. I have heard that after Zelda, Nintendo doesn’t have a significant game for quite some time
— Christopher Dring (@Chris_Dring) November 17, 2022
From what I’m hearing I wouldn’t be surprised if Nintendo starts talking about new hardware by 2024. I’m not convinced another huge first-party game other than Zelda is left on Switch (usual Nintendo prediction caveats apply…) https://t.co/96CSoLd0Dn
— Andy Robinson (@AndyPlaytonic) December 29, 2022
Being that we’re approaching the sixth anniversary of the Switch, the timeline feels like it matches up. In other words, Nintendo could very well be revving up for their next big home console after the Switch.
For comparison, the Wii, Nintendo’s second highest-selling home console (101 million units sold), was released on November 19, 2006. The Wii’s “successor,” the Wii U, was later released on November 18, 2012, about six years later.
Of course, it’s worth mentioning that production of the Wii would cease October 21, 2013, though production of the Wii Mini would continue until November 13, 2017.
On the other hand, the Wii U’s lifecycle lasted for about four years as Nintendo announced that its production would end January 31, 2017, almost a couple months ahead of the Switch’s release. Unfortunately, the Wii U was a commercial failure for Nintendo as they were only able to push out about 13.56 million units throughout its lifetime.
Needless to say, it should have been expected that the Switch’s lifecycle will more closely mirror that of the Wii’s rather than the Wii U’s being that both the Switch and Wii have been highly successful for the gaming company.
As of this moment, however, Nintendo has barely spoken about their plans for their next home console. In any event, there’s been no official announcement about how they plan to follow up after the Switch.
Due to this, we probably shouldn’t expect a new console release for Nintendo by the end of 2023. While 2024 is a possibility, it’d be quite optimistic to hope that Nintendo announces and releases the next console by then.
More than likely, we’ll probably receive the first details about the next console sometime in 2024. From there, a 2025 release window is highly plausible.
Ultimately though, we’ll just have to wait for official details from Nintendo themselves to truly know.
