(Photo: Daryl Harding)
After the very profitable year Nintendo has had so far in 2020 – even with the Japanese gaming company being hush hush about new releases –, Bloomberg writer Takashi Mochizuki is reporting (using sources from Economic Daily News in Taiwan) that the Kyoto-based company will release a brand new “upgraded” Nintendo Switch in 2021, with capability for 4K graphics and more computing power.
Mochizuki reported back in 2019 for the Wall Street Journal that Nintendo was planning on releasing two new Nintendo Switch models, one smaller and more portable – which emerged as the Nintendo Switch Lite – and a higher spec model. While it was assumed that the latter materialized as the ‘Red Box’ Nintendo Switch, with a more efficient CPU and longer battery life, this new report from Economic Daily News suggests that the higher-spec model could actually be released next year.
Mochizuki also reports that Economic Daily News sources from the supply chain say that “a slew of games from Nintendo itself and related outside studios” will be released for the new console, mirroring the release strategy of the New Nintendo 3DS in 2014. Though it’s not known if the games will also be available to play on the standard Switch console, which has sold 61.44 million units since its release in 2017.
It is not known how powerful the console will be, or the specifications at this time, with sources saying they haven’t been finalized and haven’t yet started production due to the ramping up standard Switch console manufacturing for the higher than expected demand. They did note that Nintendo is “ceding” the 2020 holiday season to Microsoft and Sony’s new consoles and games.
If Nintendo is releasing a new console next year, would you pick it up? I’m hoping to be able to play the Breath of the Wild sequel in 4K!
Sources: Bloomberg, Economic Daily News
—-
Daryl Harding is a Japan Correspondent for Crunchyroll News. He also runs the YouTube channel about Japan stuff called TheDoctorDazza, tweets at @DoctorDazza, and posts photos of his travels on Instagram.