A new Eurogamer report alleged that the successor to the Nintendo Switch was revealed privately to developers at Gamescom 2023. This follows previous Video Games Chronicle (VGC) report in July that alleged Nintendo partners were given development kits for the Switch’s successor.
Eurogamer’s report claimed that developer presentations were privately shown to industry partners, including tech demos that demonstrated the capability of the hardware. Among those tech demos was reportedly an upscaled Legend of Zelda: Breath Of The Wild that targeted the Switch 2’s higher specs.
Shortly after Eurogamer’s report, VGC published their own article corroborating the initial report. Alongside the Breath Of The Wild demo, VGC’s additional sources alleged that The Matrix Awakens Unreal Engine 5 tech demo was showcased during the presentations. The tech demo was originally to showcase the processing power of the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X in 2021.
VGC alleged that the demo was run using Nvidia’s DLSS (deep learning super sampling), which is exclusive to Nvidia’s graphics cards. DLSS uses AI to upscale the resolution of games to better graphics and frame rates on weaker hardware. And while the Matrix demo allegedly performed well using that technology, it’s unlikely that the Switch 2 achieve the power anywhere near the levels of the PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series X|S.
The Nintendo Switch has managed to sell a decent number of units, thanks to the success of titles like Breath of The Wild and it’s sequel Tears of the Kingdom, but in recent years sales have noticably taken a down turn. With the console entering in its twilight years, it’s only a matter of time before the console will have to be retired.
While it’s unknown when Nintendo will begin publicly talking about its Switch successor, recent reports have suggested that it might make it’s way to the public by 2024 at the earliest.