Although the FTC vs. Microsoft official court hearings concluded couple weeks ago, there are still ongoing developments in the situation. One of these developments concerns Microsoft’s claims about fellow gaming company Nintendo and their future projects.
According to a FTC vs. Microsoft court filing, Nintendo intends to release new model for their Nintendo Switch console as early as 2024. This can be found on page 92 of the document, which generally describes Microsoft’s post-trial findings on June 23rd. Originating from the US District Court for the Northern District of California (San Francisco Division), the filing has been circulating through news outlets like Insider Gaming and GameRant for the last couple days. If true, this revelation could be an insight into Nintendo’s future in the gaming industry.
Microsoft broached the topic when explaining why they primarily track Xbox’s performance against PlayStation compared to other consoles. The filing reasons that PlayStation is their primary competitor since both consoles launched around the same time. Meanwhile, Switch was released three years before the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S, placing it into a “different stage of the console life cycle”. Since the Switch successor is allegedly launching in 2024, it would remain outside Xbox and PlayStation’s life cycles. Similarly, Microsoft also suspected that a PlayStation 5 Slim would release later this year.
The document also alludes to the Switch successor when discussing future Call of Duty titles. A footnote on page 134 reads, “In that time, the only apparent defects the FTC has identified is that Microsoft is not omniscient and has not developed the ability to tell the future. See Dkt. 1, at nn.1–2 (citing standard contractual provisions about “Unanticipated and Unforeseeable Future Events” and Microsoft’s commitment to make Call of Duty available on an in-development Switch model).”
No other information is available at this time. Nintendo has yet to confirm any of these findings.