2020 coming to a close marks almost four years of the Nintendo Switch console. Releasing in the spring of 2017, the portable handheld/console hybrid has very quickly become a gaming phenomenon since release. This has become especially true this year, with Animal Crossing: New Horizons releasing during a time where people throughout the world wanted an escape that the game provided. Despite troubling economic circumstances worldwide, the Nintendo Switch continues a 24-month streak in highest hardware units sold compared to Xbox, PlayStation, and other proprietary gaming platforms.
Perhaps under the impression that Nintendo would want to capitalize on huge hardware success, rumors and reports have spread regarding a possible hardware refresh for Nintendo’s latest platform. Largely dubbed a Nintendo Switch “Pro,” some have theorized or heard rumors that 2021 will bring on a new version of the Switch tablet, featuring all sorts of bells and whistles like a 4K screen and Bluetooth capability. Given Nintendo’s past with hardware refreshes for the DS and 3DS, it wouldn’t be an unfair assumption for Nintendo to do the same with the Switch. However, the Switch is far different from past Nintendo handhelds and may not get the same treatment.
Nintendo themselves has refuted these rumors and reports previously, but since then, quite a few additional reports have come up regarding a “Pro” version of the Switch. In an interview with Polygon, Nintendo of America president Doug Bowser once again refuted any claims of a new, higher tier Switch console coming any time soon.
“The momentum on the Nintendo Switch and Nintendo Switch Lite in the fourth year is strong… And we believe we’re changing the trajectory of another typical console life cycle. We will continue, for the foreseeable future, to really lean into both of those platforms and the content that comes with it.”
Citing the aforementioned 24-month streak of highest units sold by the NPD, Nintendo is clearly more focused on the Nintendo Switch as it exists now, rather than what it may become later. Doug Bowser also goes on to mention how the Nintendo Switch’s attach rate, meaning how many games (on average) consumers purchase alongside the console, is still quite positive.
Frankly that makes sense, considering huge games like Animal Crossing: New Horizons, and previously Breath of the Wild, were significant system-sellers for the Nintendo Switch. Plus, with some pretty big games on the horizon (Metroid Prime 4, Breath of the Wild‘s sequel), Nintendo will want to continue that momentum moving into 2021. It’s clear that a Nintendo Switch “Pro” doesn’t factor into that success, especially when so many Switch consoles are now in the hands of millions of new players.
Given how providing additional hardware options has been a pretty common practice among all tech industries, video game consoles have been jumping on the train as well. Microsoft’s next-gen Xbox Series X also has a complementary, budget-friendly Xbox Series S console that plays all the same games. Sony’s PS5 offers a physical media and non-physical media option for the next-gen console, based on player preference. However, both companies implemented a mid-generation refresh for PS4/Xbox One that upped hardware specs ever so slightly as a “premium” console offering. Many of the Switch “Pro” rumors stem from those hardware refreshes.
Nintendo has also shown it’s not averse to a Switch hardware refresh with the Nintendo Switch Lite, but that’s obviously a very different console compared to what a “Pro” console would presumably offer. Theoretically, a Switch “Pro” would mean upgraded graphics (4K is often brought up in rumors), a bigger screen, better battery life, and other bells and whistles to modernize the existing consoles. Plus, alongside aforementioned sequels like Breath of the Wild 2, implementing a hardware refresh to play alongside new titles would potentially boost sales of the new “premium” hardware as well.
Regardless, a Nintendo Switch “Pro” doesn’t seem to be in the cards for Nintendo at the moment. Opting to support a console like Switch that continues to break sales records makes a lot of sense, perhaps out of a concern that introducing a new console may interrupt its momentum. Eventually a “Pro” console could surface if the demand is there or the Switch’s momentum starts to fade, but so far, sales figures show the Switch has shown no signs of stopping any time soon.
The Nintendo Switch is available now.
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