Despite being released more than six years ago, Nintendo Switch is still among the most popular gaming consoles in the market. The video game company is planning to release the next generation of the handheld, and reports say it could have the same performance as the PS4 and Xbox One.
Activision Spills the Beans
We don't know much about the successor of the Switch for sure, except for the fact that it will be released by Nintendo. Thanks to the whole FTC vs. Microsoft hearing, certain details were made public and revealed a few important details.
Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick had a meeting about the next-generation Switch with Nintendo back in December 2022. It was then revealed in a summary document that had been redacted called "NG Switch Draft.pdf" what the console's components would be.
Chris Schnakenberg, Activision's Head of Platform Strategy and Partner Relations said through internal emails that the Nintendo Switch 2's performance would be similar to the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One consoles, as reported by Kotaku.
The document also stated that given the closer alignment to Gen8 platforms in terms of performance and previous offerings on the mentioned consoles, it is "reasonable to assume" that they could make "something compelling for the NG Switch as well."
Activision added that "it would be helpful to secure early access to development hardware prototypes and prove that out nice and early." Rumors say that the console successor might be released in the second half of 2024.
If the news about the Switch 2's performance is true, owners might get access to more AAA titles, especially since most can still run on a PS4 or Xbox One. With games like Hogwarts Legacy coming to Nintendo's handheld, players might have a better experience when the hardware can take heavy games.
Read Also: 5 Nintendo Switch Games Released in 2023 To Try
Other Rumored Specs
Luckily for people who can't wait to know more about the Nintendo Switch successor, Activision is not the only one who knows details about it. Several sources have kept their ear to the ground and learned more about the upcoming handheld.
Reports say that the new Switch will have a cartridge slot, which means that players will still have the option to get a physical copy of a game instead of buying digitally. There's also news about the expansion of its internal storage, which would certainly help with avid gamers.
According to Ars Technica, the upcoming successor might be getting a downgrade in terms of display. Instead of an OLED screen, the next-gen Nintendo Switch will feature an LCD screen, so the video quality will not be as good as its predecessor.
On the bright side, this might actually bring the cost of the console down. With the upgrades in its hardware like the GPU, CPU, and storage, the LCD screen might be Nintendo's way of keeping the console relatively affordable.
For those who have grown attached to the games available to the current Nintendo Switch, they might be glad to know that the next-gen console is rumored to be backward compatible, although that is yet to be confirmed.
Related: New Nintendo Switch Console Details Have Been Revealed
