By Sam Nussey
TOKYO (Reuters) -Japan’s Nintendo said on Thursday it will release the Switch (NYSE:) 2 console this year, unveiling a device that appears to closely follow the form and functionality established by its popular predecessor.
The Kyoto-based gaming company did not release pricing for the new device and said it would provide more details at a Nintendo Direct event on April 2.
Consumers and investors have been waiting for details of the new console, which follows the hit hybrid home-portable Switch.
Nintendo had said it would make an announcement about a successor device during the financial year ending March 2025.
“The reveal did not have the punch of the original Switch,” said Serkan Toto, founder of the Kantan Games consultancy.
“What we saw is more like a ‘Switch Pro’ – an upgraded version that is bigger – than a Switch 2,” he said, adding the launch will likely be after June.
Nintendo’s shares fell 6% in early trading in Tokyo on Friday. Details of the device and announcement timing had widely circulated online, with the shares closing at a high on Thursday.
The Switch transformed Nintendo’s fortunes following the poor performance of the Wii U console, and has sold more than 145 million units.
Nintendo has extended the lifecycle of the Switch, which launched in 2017, with hardware refreshes and hit games from franchises such as “Super Mario” and “The Legend of Zelda”.
The company has said it expects to sell 12.5 million units of the ageing Switch console in the financial year ending March.
“The Switch 2 is poised to reinvigorate hardware sales,” Jefferies analyst Atul (NS:) Goyal wrote in a client note ahead of the announcement.
“Even if Nintendo builds up capacity to manufacture 15m Switch 2 for the year, the demand is likely to outstrip supply for several months/quarters,” he added.
The company said that existing Switch software will be usable on the new device although some games may not be fully compatible.
The Switch is the company’s second-best seller, topped only by the handheld Nintendo DS which sold 154 million units in total.
Nintendo has opened stores and its roster of characters feature in theme parks and film but the company remains heavily dependent on its console business.
Along with PlayStation maker Sony (NYSE:), Japanese companies remain leading console providers, even as technology such as mobile and cloud offers alternatives for gaming.
