Nintendo has finally responded to the multiple Switch 2 reports from the games press, calling them “inaccurate”.
An August report from VGC said Nintendo is set to release its next-gen console during the second half of 2024, with development kits with partner studios. According to the website, which has a strong track record of reporting unannounced information, this new next-gen console can be used in portable mode, like the Nintendo Switch, and has an LCD screen as opposed to an OLED screen in order to keep costs down. It also reportedly comes with a cartridge slot for physical games.
That story was followed by report from the similarly reputable Eurogamer that claimed Nintendo showed the company’s next console at gamescom 2023. VGC backed Eurogamer’s report up with a story of its own.
According to Eurogamer, the Switch 2 was shown running a “souped up” version of Switch launch title Zelda: Breath of the Wild, although there’s apparently no suggestion the game will be re-released. Meanwhile, VGC reported Nintendo showed off Epic’s The Matrix Awakens Unreal Engine 5 tech demo running on hardware with the specs Nintendo is targeting for its future console. The site said this demo ran using Nvidia’s AI-powered DLSS upscaling technology alongside ray tracing, with visuals “comparable” to PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series consoles.
In September we got the revelation that Nintendo briefed Call of Duty maker Activision on its upcoming hardware back in December 2022. Emails released as part of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) versus Microsoft trial over the $69 billion buyout of Activision Blizzard revealed preparations for a meeting between Activision boss Bobby Kotick and Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa, set for December 15, 2022.
The emails about this executive briefing were heavily redacted, but they included a note from Kotick, read out live during the trial in the summer, that hinted at what players could expect performance wise from the upcoming hardware:
“Given the closer alignment to gen8 platforms in terms of performance and our previous offerings on PS4/ Xbox One, it is reasonable to assume that we could make something compelling for NG Switch as well.
“It would be helpful to secure early access to development hardware prototypes and prove that out nice and early.”
“Gen8” refers the the generation that includes the Wii U, PS4, and Xbox One. “NG Switch” means “next-gen Switch”.
This brings us up to this week, when Nintendo held a press conference for its financial results for the fiscal year ending March 2024. During the press conference, Furukawa received a question about plans for future hardware. His response was reported by Japanese newspaper Mainichi and subsequently by western websites. Nintendo has provided IGN with an official translation of Furukawa’s comments, which include a denial of both the Switch 2 reports and stories about Nintendo briefing Activision on the unannounced hardware.
Here’s Nintendo’s translation in full:
“As we have said in the past, our company is constantly conducting research and development on new hardware and software. But regarding new hardware, we have no further comments to make. Rumours have spread on the internet and elsewhere that appear to be based on non-public information, but those are inaccurate.
To give specific examples, we have heard of reports that we talked with a certain software publisher at the end of 2022 to describe the hardware that will be the successor to Nintendo Switch, and that we gave a demonstration of new hardware at an event outside of Japan in the summer of 2023, but neither of those is true.
Information that has not been officially announced by Nintendo can mislead and confuse consumers and investors. We encourage consumers and investors to view the information we present on our website and our social media accounts and exercise good judgement.”
It’s important to analyse Furukawa’s comments in the context of the prior reports, as well as information IGN has received through its own sources. IGN understands the behind-closed-doors gamescom 2023 demos of Switch 2 included demos from third-parties with an understanding of the specifications of the next-gen hardware.
Furukawa insists Nintendo did not give a demonstration of “new hardware” at gamescom 2023. This is technically true; IGN understands the hardware shown was not new hardware in the sense that it was the final product Nintendo reportedly plans to release next year, rather hardware similar to that of a development platform that reflects what developers have to work with as they look to build games for the console.
Furukawa’s denial that Nintendo briefed Activision on its next-gen console is particularly curious given the compelling evidence available. Furukawa insisted it did not meet with Activision “to describe the hardware that will be the successor to Nintendo Switch”. Perhaps the call went ahead as planned but was about something else entirely, and Kotick and company assumed its potential.
It’s also worth adding context to this comment from Furukawa: “Information that has not been officially announced by Nintendo can mislead and confuse consumers and investors. We encourage consumers and investors to view the information we present on our website and our social media accounts and exercise good judgement.”
Nintendo faces a crucial holiday season in which it hopes to sell millions of Switch consoles. Any suggestion the company will soon release a successor console may convince some to hold back on buying an original Switch, and potentially knock investor confidence in sales during the coming months.
Among all this, a key question remains unanswered: will the Switch 2 be backwards compatible? That is to say, will it play OG Switch games, either physically or digitally? IGN has heard contrasting opinions on Switch 2 backwards compatibility from within the development and publishing community. Last month, Nintendo of America boss Doug Bowser refused to be drawn on Switch 2 rumours, but pointed to the Nintendo Account as a constant during the inevitable “transition”.
“Our goal is to minimise the dip you typically see in the last year of one cycle and the beginning of another,” Bowser said. “I can’t speak to the possible features of a new platform, but the Nintendo Account is a strong basis for having that communication as we make the transition.”
Nintendo will of course announce its next console when it’s ready to. With sales of the Switch falling steadily year-over-year as it reaches its seventh birthday, Nintendo is under pressure from investors to set out its plan for continued success. Until then, expect more denials and refusals to comment. But let’s remember that Nintendo has form when it comes to denying reports of new hardware only to announce the hardware in question soon after.
That one time Nintendo denied having any plans for a hardware revision and then announced a hardware revision the next day ? https://t.co/T8i7WzV3Z5 pic.twitter.com/f1AX6jZqYL
— Nintendeal (@Nintendeal) September 30, 2021
Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at [email protected] or confidentially at [email protected].
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