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The Switch is heading into its seventh year on the market, and it’s no surprise to see hardware sales slowing considerably. That said, don’t expect Nintendo to release new hardware anytime soon.

Following Nintendo’s Fiscal Year 2023 results, Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa talked about the tough road ahead when it comes to moving more Switch units. As we shared earlier, the company plans to see another 15 million Switch units sold in Fiscal Year 2024, but it’s not going to be easy. Mr. Furukawa shared the following comments with Bloomberg.

“Sustaining the Switch’s sales momentum will be difficult in its seventh year. Our goal of selling 15 million unit this fiscal year is a bit of stretch, but we will do our best to bolster demand going into the holiday season so that we can achieve the goal.”

[Nintendo President Shuntaro Furukawa]

Along with that, Mr. Furukawa noted that no new hardware is planned to release this Fiscal Year, which takes us all the way up to March 2024. In other words, for the next 10+ months, don’t expect Nintendo to release the Switch’s successor or an upgraded Switch model.

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Comments (21)

thedestructo94

11M ago

Something this year has gotta be happening...rumor is Nintendo has a very light second half of the year, they are not holding a June direct, and now apparently there is no new hardware coming this fiscal year..Yes TOTK is a HUGE release and shouldn't be undersold HOWEVER it releases this Friday there is still a whole other 6 months left. Yes Pikmin 4 is also slated but that is an extremely niche series that really only appeals to hard-core Nintendo fans. If Nintendo expects to sell 15 million more Switches they need more than just Scarlet/Violet and Mario Kart 8 DLC for the holidays..


mereel

11M ago

Wow. This will be an incredibly long run for essentially the same Switch hardware for 7+ years with no other Nintendo options for sale. Who would have guessed that back in 2017?


lionk

11M ago

Why would it be hard? Just create some awesome new games for it, thats all.

I mean when Nintendo decides to create a new huge game for the GameCube and really puts in effort to allow it to be a system seller, I bet the GameCube will be back on the menu for many and many gamers. It should be the same for Switch I guess.. Although I personally prefer a big new surprise for the GamCube.

Of course it is not easy to create games like that, but I feel it might be better to stretch console lifespan endlessly by creating new original software again and again rather than throwing the towel in the ring by suggesting the tech is getting too old to create cool games for.

Edited 1 time

ngamer01

11M ago

Say hello to the Wii's end, Switch. You're sharing the same fate. Nintendo didn't take the lessons at Wii's end-of-life wimper and now their next system will suffer for it. Nintendo has no other AAA games in line for Switch so like how Skyward Sword didn't save Wii, neither will Tears save Switch.

More DLC to existing games instead of new games? Might as well declare Switch as a Games-As-A-Service platform then.

Edited 1 time

kingbroly

11M ago

Marketing their games would make maintaining momentum easier, instead of shadow-dropping them during random directs, advertising the DLC more instead of the main game and dropping conversations about these releases a couple of weeks after their release to solely focus on the new thing.


kuribo

11M ago

But I was told a Switch Pro/2 would launch with TOTK?!
Could the “rumours” have been complete BS?! Shocked!


What are the odds of yet-another-Kirby-game? LOL

This is the hard part of a console lifecycle. It’s that choice to release games and reduce the declining momentum or hold back titles to launch a next system with decent momentum.

I think Nintendo is just staying mute on second half of 2023 titles until after their big blowout launch of TOTK. They’ll let that consume as much focus for a few weeks then come out with a direct for the rest of 2023 / fiscal year.


conangiga

11M ago

There's really no need to predict the second half of 2023 or beyond as Nintendo has always surprises up their sleeves.
And some peopel here in the comments forgot about Metroid Prime 4 it seems. We haven't heard anything about a new Mario Jump and Run in a long time either.

There's plenty to look forward to and in contrast to the Wii the Switch has some banger third party titles. Even if Nintendo wouldn't release a new game in a whole year I wouldn't be bored at all.


humanfart

11M ago

I'm ok with this. The OLED has been a great upgrade in my opinion. I usually play handheld and the screen is just gorgeous. That said, I'll buy the next hardware on day one!


Though it may resemble the Wii a bit, I think it may be better in the long run. Nintendo only has so much bandwidth to create games, so either they're making them for the tail end of the Switch, or they're making them for the Switch's successor. I prefer we get more games for the next system's launch, myself, but I could see why a person might prefer a stronger finish to the Switch's library. Maybe they're not getting the new system right away.

The Switch had a dynamite first year in terms of games (admittedly at the cost of the WiiU's longevity). I'd love to see their next console have that kind of a year.


riftsilver

11M ago

This is the only place I've seen the "no new hardware this fiscal year" talked about.

The other places I've seen covering the article only say that there is no new or upgraded hardware factored into the fiscal forecast. Which is a bit different than saying there's nothing coming.

Not saying there is, but this is hardly a definitive "no, nothing at all is coming".


dubbie

11M ago

Nintendo has plenty planned but don't expect them to launch a new system until its ready!

Remember the Switch launched with Mario Odyssey, Breath of the Wild,Splatoon 2 and Xenoblade on the same(!) Year.

The next launch has to be perfect they rather wait to exploit every penny they can of the current Switch and launch the next generation when its ready, no sooner


Yeah it's hard to believe they are really doing this again. I've been so sick of the switch lately, it really needs an upgrade


tendonin

11M ago

It should be obvious, but they're not going to have *nothing* in the second half of the year. No major publisher would ever do that outside something truly unprecedented like the height of COVID (even then Nintendo got Hyrule Warriors 2 and a few others out the door in late 2020). Speaking of COVID, we're still in the shadow of how that's affected game development given 3-4 year dev cycles (see also: the state of big films right now). This was always going to be a quieter time. It doesn't mean a completely silent time. It's hard to say anything with 100% certainty, but it's virtually 100% certain that there are, in fact, unannounced games. Surely not as big a tentpole as Zelda, but something rather than literally nothing new. The internet really needs to get over its impatience in regard to announcements and wanting to be marketed to in specific ways. Whatever's coming out will come out regardless, even if there's no Direct in the next couple months. Curb your hype. This isn't a healthy relationship to have with a brand.

Also, Gamecube had few big sellers in the last year and a half before the Wii and the Wii U was damn near a wasteland in its last year. The Wii to Wii U transition isn't a precedent for anything except the hardware cycle in general. Each new system rises and falls by its own merits.

Edited 1 time

It is the same thing. “No new hardware in the fiscal forecast” means no new hardware in this fiscal year. They’re forecasting to the end of current fiscal year.

IGN for example reported as:
“As reported by Bloomberg, Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa explained during an investors presentation that it isn't considering new hardware in the 2023/24 financial year.”

Edited 1 time

riftsilver

11M ago

@kuribo

It's not quite the same, and I do wonder if media outlets aren't exactly reading things correctly from what was said either. I think we should wait until we get the official Q/A until we make definitive answers based off the interpretations of a media report by other media outlets.

It *seems* similar, but it's not the same thing, it's a carefully worded way of not talking about new hardware and only forecasting things for their currently revealed consoles. Nintendo has used language before that is very similar, like when asked about the rumored 3DS XL "we're really only focused on the 3DS right now, and we feel it's a good form factor". 3DS XL was revealed 2 weeks later. Some people jumped on that and said "Oh no 3DS XL after all". When it was really just purposefully worded to not say anything in particular.

Forecasts get adjusted throughout the year at various times, if Nintendo were to reveal a new console for release in Holiday or Q1 2024, they'd adjust their fiscal year to include that. Now am I saying there's going to be a new console reveal in July and release in the next 10 months? No. But I think it's important to make the distinction.


the_crimson_lure

11M ago

So what Nintendo president Mr. Shuntaro Furukawa is saying is: Nintendo is doomed.


We can only go on what is said. Believe or not, that’s up to you or me. I agree we can wait for the official translations.

But Nintendo, so far, have been pretty honest imo when it comes to Switch, it’s lifecycle and a potential successor.
They said they initially wanted to support it for 8+ years instead of the usual 5-6. They also reiterated several times that the Switch was “half way” in its lifecycle. They started saying that about 2-3 years ago when the Switch was 4 years on the market. There’s been repeated rumour about new hardware and they’ve been very vocal about saying “there is no new hardware” and using a lot more specific verbiage than previous examples with 3DS.
At some point we have to forgo past situations, for various reasons, as any indicator of the present or future. It’s not a like for like comparison. The gaming consumer market is very different, Nintendos product line is very different, Nintendos executive leadership is very different.

All that said, we’re in its 7th year, Nintendo is saying no new hardware this fiscal year, and I’d believe them.

Time will tell but my feeling based on everything is new hardware in the latter half of their fiscal year ending March 2025.


enthropy

11M ago

They can still announce a new system this year, just not release it.


That's a very good point. I'll bet they try to keep the announcement closer to the new console's launch so it doesn't eat up Switch sales, but with the way Nintendo stuff leaks so much these days, we'll know about the console long before it launches.


enthropy

11M ago

@hawk

The announcement and release of Switch had a very short time period. I guess they'll do that again to keep the leaks at bay.

Think they want to milk the Switch as good as they can now, perhaps even with aprice drop, and just get ready for the big reveal of the successor.