Nintendo has reaffirmed that its next-generation console, the successor to the Switch, will be revealed by the end of March 2025, aligning with the close of the company’s current fiscal year.
Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa confirmed this during an online press conference on Tuesday, following the release of Nintendo’s latest earnings report, and stated that the company’s timeline for announcing the new console remains unchanged.
Industry analysts believe an announcement won’t happen this year, as it could impact Nintendo’s sales for the 2024 holiday season.
“Announcing it this year has become quite challenging,” noted Hideki Yasuda, an analyst at Toyo Securities, in a statement. “You wouldn’t want to draw attention to a future console during the critical year-end shopping season.”
In its updated forecast, Nintendo has adjusted its Switch hardware sales projections for the remainder of the fiscal year from 13.5 million to 12.5 million units.
“For a platform entering its eighth year on the market, both hardware and software continue to see stable demand and robust sales,” Furukawa commented (via VGC).
Nintendo reported a 34% drop in net sales, with hardware sales down 31% and software sales declining by 27.6%.
Despite this, Nintendo saw considerable success in 2023, largely thanks to The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom and Illumination’s blockbuster The Super Mario Bros. Movie, which significantly boosted Nintendo’s stock performance.
In September, The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom sold 2.58 million copies, while other recent titles, such as Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door and Luigi’s Mansion 2 HD, sold 1.94 million and 1.57 million units, respectively.
Switch hardware lifetime sales—including OLED, standard, and Lite models—have now surpassed 146 million units.
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe remains Nintendo’s top-selling game, with lifetime sales of 64.27 million copies, solidifying the Switch’s legacy in gaming.
