Earlier this year, I argued that the Nintendo Switch still has plenty of life left in it, despite ostensibly being on the way out for whatever comes next. Looking at the list of upcoming first-party titles might not instill the same confidence in others – as of writing, we're looking at Luigi's Mansion 2 HD and Nintendo World Championships: NES Edition as the only ones with confirmed release dates – but my position remains the same. Still, it does feel like the rest of this calendar year is an opportunity for Nintendo to really send the Switch out with a bang and prepare us for what's to come during the Summer Game Fest 2024 schedule.
When it comes to the companies that still do both games hardware and software, Nintendo is by far the most difficult to pin down to any sort of meaningful predictions or timeline. While leaks and rumors about all three do occasionally happen, ones about Nintendo that are even remotely believable are few and far between. Thankfully, rather than leaving me in the unenviable position of trying to make something out of nothing, Nintendo has essentially confirmed its plans for the foreseeable future by acknowledging that the successor to the Nintendo Switch really is on the horizon – though it won't be seen during a confirmed Nintendo Direct this June.
"We will make an announcement about the successor to Nintendo Switch within this fiscal year," said Shuntaro Furukawa, president of Nintendo, in early May 2024. "It will have been over nine years since we announced the existence of Nintendo Switch back in March 2015. We will be holding a Nintendo Direct this June regarding the Nintendo Switch software lineup for the latter half of 2024, but please be aware that there will be no mention of the Nintendo Switch successor during that presentation."
In the pipeline
So, yes, the Nintendo Switch 2 or whatever the company decides to call it is set to be revealed in relatively short order. That doesn't necessarily mean all Nintendo Switch support is going out the window, but it does make it much more likely that Nintendo will shift resources (and almost certainly already has to some extent) from its immediate predecessor.
For more of 12DOVE ongoing coverage of the summer events, be sure to bookmark our Summer Game Fest 2024 coverage hub
And that's OK! Frankly, I'd rather a robust launch lineup for the Switch successor than bangers at the end of the OG Switch lifecycle that may or may not work on the new one. Even so, it's hard to imagine that Nintendo doesn't still have something up its collective sleeve for later this year.
In terms of what we actually know for sure that's still in the pipeline, it's relatively barren for first-party Nintendo titles. It does seem like now would be a particularly good time to get the long-gestating Metroid Prime 4 up and out, as we've not really heard anything about it for some time.
There's also been chatter for years about some Zelda remakes or remasters for the Nintendo Switch beyond what has already been done. Given that there has already been Skyward Sword HD and Link's Awakening, it doesn't feel entirely out of the question that Wind Waker or the like could make an appearance. It hasn't happened yet, but the imperative word there is "yet," and there is really nothing stopping Nintendo from celebrating some of its greatest hits from previous years and consoles in the time between now and what's next.
It does feel like this might be an overall quiet period for Nintendo. A couple more first-party titles to close out the year and maybe, finally, Metroid Prime 4 out the door for people to actually play. It feels a bit too close to recent mainline entries for a new Zelda or Mario game, and while I live in hope for a new Fire Emblem game that's more Three Houses than Engage, it does seem unlikely.
Honestly, I feel like a bit of a broken record, because my overall impulse here is that it kind of doesn't matter whether Nintendo releases huge games in the next six months. Pokemon Legends Z-A is set for 2025, and a bunch of third-party releases combined with a couple second-tier first-party games between now and then would make the segue into the Nintendo Switch 2 that much gentler. It's even possible that Metroid Prime 4 ends up being one of those games released for both consoles like Breath of the Wild before it.
The only thing I can say for sure about Nintendo's upcoming lineup, and especially what it might reveal as part of the previously confirmed Nintendo Direct this June, is that it will almost certainly be surprising.
Join us as we predict the games of Summer Game Fest 2024 and dive into what we expect to see from each of the major publishers.
