Level Up: The Nintendo Switch 2 – 2024 Release with Room for Software Cards

According to a report, Nintendo wants to launch its Switch successor in 2024. According to the report, a slot for physical data carriers is still planned.

Nintendo could release its long-awaited Switch successor next year. This is reported by the gaming magazine Videogameschronicle, which refers to several people familiar with the development. The website Eurogamer also writes about a release in 2024 – more precisely in the second half of the year.

According to Videogameschronicle, the next Nintendo console will have much stronger hardware than the Switch. This would force Nintendo to cut costs elsewhere: for example, the new Nintendo console will only have an LC screen for its mobile use, while the current Switch model is available with an OLED screen.

The stronger hardware would also mean that more storage is needed: the Switch only has 32 GBytes of space for games. If games want to take advantage of the better hardware with higher-resolution textures, more detailed models and prettier effects, they would need correspondingly more storage space. That costs money, which Nintendo wants to save on the screen, according to Videogameschronicle.

Nintendo still plans to go with a slot for physical media, according to the report – on the Switch, they’re called “software cards.” This is no longer a matter of course: Sony also offers the PS5 as a cheaper version without a disc drive, and the PS5 Slim, which is expected at the end of the year, could also be launched without a drive. Microsoft also has a drive-less console on offer with the Xbox Series S.

Switch rumors

Rumors of a successor console to the Switch have persisted for years, but recently became more intense. First, Nintendo itself fueled the discussions about the Switch 2. Namely, in a conversation with investors, Nintendo President Shuntaro Furukawa briefly touched on upcoming gaming consoles: The transition from the Nintendo Switch to a next-generation console should be as smooth as possible for customers, Furukawa said. In particular, the existing Nintendo account should also be used with the new console.

FTC lawsuit against Activision Blizzard was also about a “Switch 2.” There, an email from Activision CEO Bobby Kotick to Nintendo President Shunturo Furukawa was shown. In it, Kotick expresses the expectation that Nintendo’s upcoming console could compete with Xbox One and PS4 in terms of performance – that would be a mighty leap in performance over current Switch models, whose hardware performance has lagged behind even smartphones for years. There is still no official confirmation of the console.