A new rumor making the rounds online suggestsNintendois winding up its development of new games for the Switch and may start turning its attention to the console’s successor, whether that be aSwitch 2or whatever else.Nintendohit a rough patch with the Wii U, but the Switch has been a monumental success for the Big N. Whereas the Wii U is one of the worst-selling video game consoles of all time, the Switch is in the top five and is on pace to overtake the PlayStation 4 in total lifetime sales. However, the Switch first launched in 2017 and its hardware is starting to show its age. According to the latest rumors, Nintendo may agree with that sentiment and could be shifting the focus of its first-party studios to the Switch successor console.RELATED:New Job Listing Reveals That Bandai Namco Is Still Developing A Nintendo RemasterAccording to the rumors,The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdomcould be pegged as the last “big” new first-party Nintendo Switch exclusive game. If the rumors are accurate, Nintendo would then focus on releasing smaller games, remakes, and remasters for the Switch while putting most of its attention on titles for the Switch 2 console. While it does seem likely that anew Nintendo consolewill release at some point in 2024 or 2025, these rumors do have a couple of big issues to take into account.
The rumors ignore the fact thatPikmin 4has already been announced for the Switch, with the game scheduled to launch at some point afterTears of the Kingdomhits store shelves. While thePikminfranchise is not nearly as big as something likeZelda,Pikmin 4should still prove to be one of the Switch’s biggest releases this year. The other issue is that the rumors seemingly ignoreMetroid Prime 4’s existence, but perhaps there’s another explanation for that.
Metroid Prime 4was first announced for the Switch a whopping six years ago, yet it still has not seen so much as a gameplay trailer. This is becauseMetroid Prime 4development was rebooteda couple of years after its announcement, with Nintendo taking the game from Bandai Namco and putting it in the hands of Retro Studios instead. It’s possibleMetroid Prime 4will be skipping the Nintendo Switch in favor of the new Nintendo console, though it’s also possible that the people talking about these rumors simply forgot it was on the way.
Reputable insiders have said that aMetroid Primeremake or remasterhas already been made for the Switch, and it’s just a matter of when the company decides to release it. There are also rumors of a new 2DSuper Mariogame in the works, but perhaps that project will be moved to the Switch’s successor. Ultimately, fans will have to wait for Nintendo to reveal more information about its upcoming projects to know how much truth there is to these rumors, if any at all.
