Nintendo Switch Will Still Get First-Party Games Through Early 2025

After more than six years on the market, the entire video game industry is waiting to see when the successor to the Nintendo Switch gets revealed. Reports have suggested that a new system will be released in the second half of 2024, but even if that does happen, Nintendo will continue to support Switch through at least the end of the company's fiscal year ending in March 2025. Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa revealed just that in an interview with Japanese outlet Nikkei (translated by Video Games Chronicle).

"We are still working on software for the Switch for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2025," Furukawa told Nikkei. "In the fiscal year ending March 31, 2024, we hope to sustain the momentum of Zelda and the [Super Mario Bros] movie, with focus on the holiday sales season. As for hardware, we will maximize not only new demand for the hardware, but also for those buying second consoles and replacements."

Nintendo Switch's Continued Support

Naturally, Furukawa's comments have already led to a lot of speculation on social media! While Nintendo might plan on supporting Switch through at least March 2025, that doesn't negate the possibility that a new system will release before then. In fact, some fans believe that this could make it more likely that the next Nintendo system will be backwards compatible; the theory being that it makes more sense for Nintendo to keep putting out Switch games if the "Switch 2" can still play them. That's certainly something we've seen with PlayStation and Xbox!

While Nintendo might be more likely to support Switch into 2025 if the new system plays older games, it's also possible the company just won't want to abandon users so quickly. The fact of the matter is that Nintendo Switch has a very large userbase, and not everyone is going to be able to upgrade to the new hardware right away. It's worth noting that Nintendo 3DS continued to receive first-party games even after Switch was on the market. The console released in March 2017, while 3DS games like Hey! Pikmin and Metroid: Samus Returns arrived in July and September of that same year, respectively.

Nintendo Switch 2

Unfortunately, official details on Nintendo's next system remain very slim at this time. Nintendo has noted that the system will continue to use Nintendo Accounts, in a move meant to make it easier for current users to transition over. Nintendo has also revealed that there will be a far shorter wait time between the console's announcement and release than there was with the Switch. If the system truly is coming out in the second half of 2024 as reports suggest, we likely won't see a full reveal until sometime early next year.

Are you happy that Nintendo Switch will keep getting support that long? Do you think Nintendo's next console is coming in 2024? Share your thoughts with me directly on Twitter at @Marcdachamp or on Instagram at @Dachampgaming!