Nintendo has finally confirmed the rumors. On Tuesday, the company acknowledged that a successor for the phenomenally successful Switch console is on the way—and that it will offer more details by the end of its fiscal year.
The Switch has sold over 141 million units worldwide since its 2017 launch, outselling the Wii and every other home console Nintendo has created.
Rumors of a “Switch 2” have been floating around the gaming industry for months—and Nintendo’s system is woefully underpowered compared to its competitors or even the smartphone in your pocket—so the company’s confirmation that a Nintendo Switch successor is in the works was an adrenaline shot for gamers.
While there are plenty of rumors about what the new system will look like, Nintendo is a company that likes to reinvent itself. A “Switch 2” is certainly possible. David Gibson, senior research analyst at MST Financial, quotes Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa as saying on the earnings call, “Switch’s next model is the appropriate way to describe it,” which could perhaps point to another hybrid console.
Still, that’s not a guarantee. What is certain, though, is that whatever this system turns out to be, it will hit the market with a big game in tow.
With the Nintendo 64, it had Super Mario 64. The Wii had Wii Sports. And the Switch launched alongside The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.
With that in mind, what are some of the possible titles we could see with this new system?
Mario Kart
One likely option: a new Mario Kart title. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, one of the Switch’s top-selling games to this day, is essentially a rerelease of a 10-year-old title for the Wii U, with an updated battle mode and a few new courses. That’s an extraordinarily long time between entries in a mega-franchise. (For comparison, it was less than three years between Mario Kart 7 and Mario Kart 8.) Mario Kart 8 Deluxe has sold 61.97 million copies as of March 31, 2024.
Switch sales have fallen 37% in the last fiscal year (and overall software sales slipped 6.7%). A new title and new hardware could give the video game company the boost it’s hoping for with its Nintendo Switch successor.
Animal Crossing
If not Mario Kart, a new Animal Crossing could also move the needle. The last installment, Animal Crossing: New Horizons, has sold 45.36 million copies to date and is now a four-year-old title. Those numbers might be a little artificially high due to the pandemic bump, but the game took hold with players in a way few others have, so a new installment could lure back some lapsed gamers.
Like Mario Kart, Animal Crossing continues to find an audience, despite its age, selling 3 million in the past year.
Zelda
Any entry in The Legend of Zelda series is an event, but The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is still a newish title (in Nintendo time, at least). It has plenty of room to grow—and entries in the series take a long, long time to make. Because of that, the chances of this being a launch title seem less likely this time around.
Mario
The Switch saw Super Mario Odyssey as one of its launch titles in 2017, and that title was one of the most acclaimed video games of all time. So it’s not out of the question that Nintendo would lean into a traditional Mario game to give the new system a bump. But it was just last year that Super Mario Bros. Wonder hit shelves. It’s hardly the same sort of thing, but Nintendo likes to put some space between Mario-centric launches. The timing on a game that focuses squarely on the plumber/mascot could be less likely.
Something new
Launching a new franchise is tough, but Nintendo has a decent track record. The Wii made Wii Sports a household favorite. And Splatoon brought the company into the action space while keeping its family-friendly focus. So it’s not out of the realm of possibility that the company will use the Nintendo Switch successor to kick off a new game line. That said, established game franchises will excite fans a lot faster and on a much wider scale than something new.
To be clear, all of this is speculation. Nintendo has not even hinted at games for this as-yet unannounced system. The internet, though, has made its desires clear:
Whatever the spotlight launch title might be, Nintendo could have a little time to work on it. The new Nintendo system isn’t necessarily coming soon. The company has only said it will formally announce the Switch successor “within this fiscal year,” which can be any time between now and March 31, 2025. (Officials have said it will not be a topic in the June Nintendo Direct broadcast.)
The company has a number of upcoming titles for the Switch this holiday season, so it doesn’t make a lot of sense to begin stoking enthusiasm for a new system too heavily before the holidays. Nintendo, meanwhile, is forecasting sales for fiscal 2025 that are 19.3% lower than it saw in fiscal 2024.
While all that doesn’t guarantee the new Nintendo console will launch in 2025 or later, it does wink in that direction.
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