Nintendo may have indicated that its next games console will be backwards compatible with Switch games.
In its latest financial results, which were published on Thursday, the company saidSwitch has become its best-selling home console in history.
The console has shipped over 103 million units, surpassing Wii’s 101 million total, andSwitchhad 98 million annual playing users last year.
Nintendoreportedly touched on its plans for Switch’s successor during a Q&A session on Thursday, which was summarised on Twitter by Japan-based analyst and investment adviserDavid Gibson.
The company was asked how Switch’s 98 million annual players factor into its plans for its next console. Gibson paraphrased Nintendo’s response, which he suggested may hint at backwards compatibility.
Q) How think about the 98m versus next console?A) Into 6th year of Switch and we are maintaining momentum, we are looking at how to expand and grow this 100m users, leading into next gen device (sounds like next device will be backward compatible!) 7/
Nintendo stated last May thatinvestment in Switch’s successorhad contributed to a record annual research and development spend at the company.
And during its previous financial results briefing in November, Nintendo said it was still internallydiscussing the concept and launch timing for its next gaming system.
The company also said it believes Switch is still in the middle phase of its lifecycle and that it’s seeking a sixth year of growth for the platform aided by the new OLED model and a diverse software line-up.
Switch launched in March 2017, Switch Lite was released in September 2019, and the Switch OLED model launched in October 2021.
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A senior industry analyst recentlyforecast Nintendo’s next console to launch in 2024, with no ‘Switch Pro’ model arriving before that date.
“I’m not expecting a Switch Pro in 2022,” Piers Harding-Rolls of Ampere Analysis toldGamesIndustry.biz. “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.”
Last September, Nintendo denied aBloombergreport claiming that at least 11 studios had 4K Switch development kits.
