Sources: Nintendo targets 2024 with next-gen console
Development kits for Nintendo’s next console are now with key partner studios, with launch planned for next year, sources have told VGC.
According to multiple people with knowledge of Nintendo’s next-gen console plans, the company is likely to release new hardware during the second half of 2024, to ensure that it has ample stock available on day one and to avoid the kind of shortages seen with PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S.
Although specific details on the console are being kept closely guarded, those VGC spoke to indicated that the next-gen console would be able to be used in portable mode, similar to the Nintendo Switch.
Two sources VGC spoke to suggested that the console could launch with an LCD screen, instead of the more premium OLED, in order to bring down costs, especially considering the increased storage needed for higher fidelity games. The current Switch comes with just 32GB of internal memory, while many current-gen PlayStation and Xbox games are over 100GB.
Like its predecessor, the new Nintendo console will also accept physical games via a cartridge slot, the sources said.
Other details, such as backwards compatibility support for Switch games (physical and digital), remains unclear. Nintendo has said it wants to convert as many of Switch’s 100m+ userbase as possible to its next system, although some third-party publishers are said to have expressed concern that legacy support for Switch games could negatively affect sales of next-gen titles.
Nintendo did not immediately respond to VGC’s request for comment on this story.
Tokyo-based industry consultant Dr Serkan Toto told VGC that a 2024 console launch would make sense for Nintendo, since it’s projected to see double-digit declines in Switch hardware and
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