Nintendo Switch 2 release date announced

Nintendo will release its new Switch 2 console on 5 June, seeking to keep the no. 1 spot in video-game devices with a new version of the top-selling model it introduced in 2017.

The company’s first entirely new platform in eight years, the Switch 2, has the potential to lift sales for game makers and retailers after what has been a lacklustre three years for the industry.

Consoles in particular are fighting increasingly popular PC games, resulting in a project cuts and staff layoffs throughout the ecosystem.

Already, many game publishers are lining up some of their best franchises for the new Switch in hopes of winning back players.

The new console will also support the company’s online gaming services, Nintendo said in November.

The Switch has sold more than 146 million units so far.

But flagging momentum for the console, launched in 2017, forced Nintendo to cut its full-year profit and sales forecasts and log its fifth straight quarter of profit declines.

Consumers have eagerly awaited an announcement on a successor to the Switch, which faces more powerful and modern updates from rivals Sony Group and Microsoft.

Beside the features of the new hardware, focus is on Nintendo’s ability to meet demand at the console’s launch.

Initial sales momentum is a big indicator of how popular a game console will be for its whole life cycle.

Chip shortages hurt the 2020 launches of Sony’s PlayStation 5 and Microsoft’s Xbox Series X and S models, sapping demand and hurting software sales.

Robin Zhu, an analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein, said ahead of the announcement that Nintendo has prepared a supply chain network that will allow the company to sell more than 20 million units in its first year.

That compares with the current Switch’s sale of around 15 million units in its first four quarters.

Reporting with Bloomberg