The Nintendo Switch 2, by all accounts, will be available to buy in late 2024. The exact details of what it will look like and when it’s launching haven’t been confirmed. In fact, at this point, pretty much everything we’ve heard about the new console is hearsay.
The current thinking is that the Nintendo Switch 2 will be available in September, and it will almost certainly have upgraded hardware. The original Switch was released in 2017 and technology has moved on significantly since then, so Nintendo needs to make sure the new console has similar capabilities to rival products, such as the PS5 and Xbox.
Mobile Gaming
FYI: An Ai Shark spokesperson tells me they’re just guessing about the next Nintendo console’s release date https://t.co/CqPE9oBSDr
— Jason Schreier (@jasonschreier) January 11, 2024
One area Nintendo has traditionally lagged behind its rivals is mobile gaming. Former Nintendo boss Tatsumi Kimishima promised a quartet of mobile games in 2016. However, the promised games took much longer to materialize and, since then, its mobile division has been almost dormant. That needs to change. The gaming market is different from what it was back in 2017.
Today, virtually all of the biggest brands have mobile versions of their top games. What’s more, there’s an increasing demand for free online games. The freemium market has continued to evolve since 2017 and, today, players can access HD adventures in all manner of settings via their desktop or mobile.
Statistically, the market for medieval MMORPGs, adventure sims, and PvP battle arena games is bigger than ever. Data collected by The Gamer shows that popular free-to-play games attract upwards of 100 million users, with some games having over 11 million active players at peak times.
Major Players Understand Gaming’s Latest Trends
The popularity of these games hasn’t been lost on companies such as PlayStation and Microsoft. Although they’re not in the market to challenge the major players in freemium, such as Epic Games, they’re active. Why? Because free online games and, indeed, mobile games, are popular with players. Therefore, if PlayStation and Xbox want to remain relevant with all types of gamers, they need a presence in the market.
Nintendo has been notably lax in mobile and free-to-play markets, but the Switch 2 is a chance to change that. The hybrid device has all the potential to make Nintendo a major player in different parts of the gaming industry. There does, however, need to be ways for users to access different types of content, including mobile and free-to-play games.
Reddit users have already been discussing what they want from the new Switch, including changes to the operating system (OS). One Reddit user, Fastela, said they just want an “eShop that doesn’t take ages to load a page.” xN1kooo said the original Switch OS was “soulless” and, even though the overall performance was OK, the eShop was poor.
The app store appears to be the key to Nintendo’s future success. We know from a recent CNBC article that Nintendo’s revenue is down. An updated OS with a better app store that contains mobile and free-to-play content may be just what the doctor ordered. Do the executives at Nintendo HQ have the same opinion? We’ll find out later in the year.
