We've heard a lot of rumors about the Nintendo Switch Pro for a while now. While none of them were convincing enough, they managed to live up to our hopes for an updated Switch device. At one point, some reports suggested that Nintendo was indeed working on a Switch Pro. But now it seems they were all smoking without fire.
It took a long time before any concrete evidence emerged regarding the Switch Pro. However, thanks to the recent Digital found Direct Weekly podcast, we can finally get some reliable information about the device.
A Nintendo Switch Pro was in development but has now been cancelled
According to John Linneman, a mid-generation Nintendo Switch appears to be in development that aims to update the current model. He quoted several developers and stated that the device, which was supposed to be a "Nintendo Switch Pro", was eventually cancelled.
What makes this news interesting is that there have been many rumors and leaks about the Nintendo Switch Pro about a year ago. And since the current Nintendo Switch has outdated hardware, an updated model makes a lot of sense. Any of the latter would be a big upgrade to the 1 Nvidia Tegra X2015 SoC.
How likely is this statement?
Digital Foundry is well known for its in-depth testing. This implies the presence of a well-placed industry source. To be precise, Digital Foundry was the first to leak information about the Nintendo Switch. The device was claimed to come with Nvidia Tegra X1 SoC.
In addition, it has been confirmed that the device will have a different clock frequency in the dock. We got all of this information long before the Nintendo Switch was released. And they were all valid. So, this confirmation regarding the Nintendo Switch Pro can be taken with less weight.
Why Nintendo canceled the Switch Pro
Linnemann suggests that Nintendo is worried about another Wii U or Gamecube situation. While both consoles were fun to play, they both had terrible sales numbers. Gamecube sales numbers were very poor. Ten times it was replaced by the Wii, which is one of the most successful game consoles of all time.
However, going from that to the Wii U and then the Nintendo Switch shows that a company can only succeed every second generation. To give you perspective, the Wii U sold just over 13 million!
So there won't be a Nintendo Switch successor in 2023?
The fact that there is a certain weirdness in the Nintendo camp makes a lot of sense. The OLED switch didn't offer much of an upgrade over the regular switch. Although, it is a beautiful console with a great screen.
Also, Genshin Impact, a very popular game, was previously announced for Nintendo Switch back in early 2021. But since then, the game has vanished into thin air. The game's developer, Mihoyo, also denies that it has been cancelled. In May, the company's global Pro confirmed that it was still committed to its launch.
According to popular speculation, the game was being developed for the Nintendo Switch Pro. And given the fact that it is quite resource intensive, these speculations made a lot of sense.
With all that said, it's always interesting to get a little insight into what does or doesn't happen behind Nintendo's closed doors.
But in general, Linnemann says he doesn't expect to see any successor to the Nintendo Switch in 2023. This means that the current generation will have one more year of being Nintendo's flagship console before any successor eventually arrives. However, we expect to see new games for the Switch launch this year.
