While the Nintendo Switch is expected for 2025, the Japanese company is making a crazy bet for the end of 2024. We'll explain!
Nintendo, ever more ambitious
The Japanese video game giant has reason to celebrate: launched in 2017, the Nintendo Switch is the third best-selling console of all time with more than 143 million sales, just behind Sony's PlayStation 2 (155 million units) and the Nintendo DS (154 million units). A few months before the Nintendo Switch 2, Big N continues to record sales of the first Switch, thanks to its many exclusives. Si The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Super Mario Odyssey, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and Animal Crossing: New Horizonscontinue to boost sales, there is no doubt that the recent successes of The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom and Super Mario Bros. Wonder in 2023 may have contributed to Nintendo Switch sales.
However,Nintendo's latest quarter was rather disappointing for the Kyoto-based company: between April and June 2024, Big N saw its net profit drop by 55.3%. While this drop in sales seems normal for a console at the end of its life, Nintendo's management sees it differently. According to the group's latest financial report, Nintendo expects to sell another 11.4 million Nintendo Switch units by the end of the current fiscal year. A dizzying figure, which could allow the Switch to overtake the Nintendo DS in terms of sales, and to come close to the PlayStation 2.
This data, which may seem unrealistic, is interesting, since it tells us about Nintendo's strategy. First of all, we understand on the one hand the reason why Big N has still not communicated anything about the successor to the Nintendo Switch, not even the name, a few months before its presumed release. Indeed, promoting this new console could dissuade potential customers from buying a Nintendo Switch in favor of a Nintendo Switch 2.
Finally, this crazy ambition from Nintendo allows us to understand the surprisingly busy schedule for the end of 2024, with announcements that have stunned everyone, such as The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom, Mario & Luigi: The Epic Brotherhood, Dragon Quest III HD-2D or Metroid Prime 4: Beyond. Do you think Nintendo will achieve its goals? Don't hesitate to tell us in the comments section.