Back in September, developers reportedly were given glimpse of the successor to the Nintendo Switch at Gamescom 2023. There was another report later that month that revealed that Activision was provided details of the Nintendo’s next console last year in December. Now, In Nintendo’s latest earnings call, President Shuntaro Furukawa claims that the recent reports of the company providing a briefing of its next console to developers are not true. He also pushes back on the recent patent filing for a device with two screens saying that the plans detailed were not for any future device.
According to the Japanese publication Mainichi, President Furukawa discussed recent reports, “Rumors are circulating mainly on the internet as if they were public information, but they are inaccurate.” He also cited the reports of Nintendo providing explanations about next-generation consoles to specific software makers in 2022 and showcasing the next-generation console at an overseas event in the Summer, denying them as “untrue.”
Furukawa also commented on the company’s filing for a patent for a device equipped with two screens and said that it doesn’t mean that this would be utilized for Nintendo’s next console. “I applied with the understanding that (the patent information) would be made public,” Furukawa said. “It does not mean that it will be installed in a product.”
Nintendo has not made an official announcement on its future. However, there were reports that the company has sent development kits to key partners with a launch planned for the second half of 2024.
Many industry analysts including Dr. Serkan Toto believe that a 2024 console launch makes sense.
“I would generally say that looking at Nintendo’s financials, it seems clear that it’s time for a new piece of hardware in 2024,” he said. “Hardware is already projected to fall 16.5% year-on-year in the current fiscal, while the minus for software is expected to hit 15.9%.
“The only way to stop these losses from totally ballooning next fiscal is a new device, and the second half of 2024 sounds like a realistic release window to me.”
Despite all the denial, there is a history of Nintendo denying press reports in the past but later being true.