In a disappointing recent press release, Nintendo have officially confirmed that no new Switch hardware will be released this fiscal year. So the rumors of a Switch Pro being inbound are sadly untrue.
The Nintendo Switch was a game changer when it launched. It finally breached the gap between traditional and handheld consoles. Here was a machine that you could use like the Xbox or PlayStation, but that you could also take on the bus each morning. Everything was going well. But then fans began asking for a more powerful model.
Where was the Switch Pro, they demanded. Because the OLED clearly wasn't it. And to those fans, we sadly have more bad news: you're going to have to keep waiting for a more powerful Switch.
No More Switch Hardware This Year
In a recent interview between the Japanese news network Nikkei and Nintendo's president, the head of Nintendo announced that no new Switch technology was going to be released this fiscal year (till March 2023). That unfortunately puts to bed the recent rumors regarding a new Switch Pro. Although, the Switch OLED was such an immense disappointment that we can't say we're too upset.
Sadly, Nintendo's falling profits might be a factor. As the report in Nikkei makes clear:
Nintendo 's consolidated financial results for the April-June period of 2022 showed operating income of 101.6 billion yen, down 15% year-on-year. While the production of consoles is restricted due to the prolonged shortage of semiconductors, demand for "staying at home" under the new coronavirus is also slowing down.
So the demand just isn't there for Nintendo to rush something like the Switch Pro, which makes sense. But it's still surprising they don't want to challenge the Steam Deck more seriously, which has just shot to the top of the bestseller list again.
This should narrow down are predictions for the next Netflix Direct...