A new Video Games Chronicle (VGC) report alleged Nintendo’s next console is slated for a 2024 release. According to the report, sources close with Nintendo alleged that the new console will release during the second half of 2024, to have enough stock for launch and avoid shortages.
Rumors of a new Nintendo console have ramped up in recent years as its sales have gradually fallen. According to a report in May, sources told Nikkei Asia of a possible next-gen console launch in 2024 “at the earliest”, and it seems that VGC’s latest report gives even more credence to those claims.
Sources alleged that the next-gen console would have a portable mode similar to the Nintendo Switch and a cartridge slot for physical games. Additionally, instead of an OLED screen, the new console will have an LCD in order “to bring down costs.”
Multiple industry experts including ReedPop’s head of games B2B, Christopher Dring, told VGC that a 2024 release would make sense considering the decline in Switch sales. Additionally, Dring stated that it also fit Nintendo’s trend of launching new hardware in the “mid-cycle” of PlayStation and Xbox consoles.
“The original Switch released over three years after PS4 and Xbox One, which proved to be an effective move for Nintendo. A second-half 2024 release for Switch 2 would be nearly four years after PS5 and Xbox Series X and S, so we would see a similar ‘mid-cycle’ launch for Nintendo,” said Dring.
Dring continued, stating that Nintendo will likely have a harder time convincing its more casual fans to come around to its new hardware. That said, Dring explained that backward compatibility digital libraries and other features could prove to be instrumental in igniting interest in Nintendo’s next console.
Nintendo has yet to confirm anything relating to its next console. It’s likely that no information will be revealed until early 2024 at the earliest.