Nintendo could skip Switch Pro in favor of Switch 2 — here's when

Nintendo could skip Switch Pro in favor of Switch two — here's when

Nintendo Switch OLED held between two hands with one of the JoyCons being slid off

(Epitome credit: Nintendo)

If you've been eagerly anticipating a suped-up Nintendo Switch Pro, it may be time to reign in your expectations. An industry annotator is tipping Nintendo to forgo launching a Switch Pro in favor of focusing on a proper successor to its popular handheld/home panel hybrid.

Piers Harding-Rolls of Ampere Analysis recently made this prediction via gamesindustry.biz. He said, "I'm not expecting a Switch Pro in 2022. We have a next-gen Nintendo console in our forecasts for late 2024, so I'm not convinced a 'Pro' model is going to appear at all."

This prediction is sure to disappoint dedicated Nintendo fans hoping for a more powerful version of the Switch console, especially as the Switch is really starting to show its age. Recent releases such as Hitman 3 and Guardians of the Galaxy take only been playable on the console in the form of a Deject Verison that is streamed rather than played natively from the device due to power limitations.

The blow is somewhat softened by the fact that Harding-Rolls does expect a next-gen Nintendo panel to get in in 2024, which could exist called Nintendo Switch 2. That would put the Nintendo Switch's lifespan at 7 years, which is a tad on the lengthy side but it's non unreasonable.

For comparing, there were six years between the launch of the Wii and Wii U, and merely four betwixt the Wii U and original Nintendo Switch — merely that was cheers in large function to the sales underperformance of the former.

It should be noted that these are technically simply predictions, but are withal likely to exist informed predictions rather than simply wild speculation. The notion that Nintendo will completely skip releasing a Switch Pro model flies in the face of a Bloomberg article from final year. This written report claimed Nintendo was supplying developers with new Switch devkits and had asked studios to begin making 4K-supported Switch games. Yet, these claims were after denied by Nintendo.

Rumors of a Nintendo Switch Pro take been circulating for years at this point, merely to appointment, Nintendo itself continues to deny its existence. The visitor did release a Nintendo Switch OLED model last October, merely every bit this refresh doesn't come with any major internal improvements information technology's considered an iterative update rather than a substantial reworking of the panel.

Despite Nintendo'due south repeated denial on the matter, rumors of the Nintendo Switch Pro continue to persist. It's unlikely that they'll dice off in 2022 either; we wait to hear plenty more than online whispers about a more powerful Switch in the coming months.

Rory is a Deals Editor at Tom's Guide based in the UK. He covers a broad range of topics but with a particular focus on deals, gaming and streaming. When he's not scouring retailers for PS5 restock or writing hot takes on the latest gaming hardware and streaming shows, he can be found attending music festivals and being thoroughly disappointed past his terrible football team.