We’re six years into the Nintendo Switch life cycle and fans desperately want a new model that can play more powerful games. However, if we are getting a new system, it won’t be this year as games like Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom are expected to sell more Switch consoles.
Though many have accepted how underpowered Nintendo’s handheld console hybrid is, even first-party games from the company are struggling on the system. Even if we don’t get new Switch hardware this year, many are hoping news or rumours about one start coming to light.
All we can do is hope that Nintendo has a strong game line-up this year, especially with Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom coming out in a few months. Nintendo will eventually have to release a new console but considering the Switch’s success, that might take a while.
Piers Harding-Rolls, research director at Ampere Analysis, spoke with GamesIndustry.biz about a new Switch, with the analyst feeling that we won’t get one this year. Harding-Rolls feels that Tears of the Kingdom is going to sell plenty of Switch hardware, predicting a new Nintendo system in 2024 instead.
“The upcoming Zelda will sell plenty of Switch hardware, so it could be close,” says the analyst. “I'm not expecting a next-gen Nintendo console in 2023: we have 2024 in our forecasts.”
Interestingly enough, Harding-Rolls also feels that the PlayStation 5 could outsell the Switch if it becomes more readily available. As to why this is the case, the analyst points out that Nintendo’s system is already in the later stages of its life.
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Overall, it seems like Nintendo fans hoping for stronger Switch hardware are going to be really disappointed. Still, if games like Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom can play well on them, it shouldn’t be a huge problem.