Nintendo believes it will be able to continue supporting the Switch “without being bound by the traditional concept of the platform lifecycle.”
The company shared the tidbit during its latest corporate management policy briefing and indicated it still has faith in the long-term viability of the Switch, which will turn eight in March 2024.
The latest sales figures suggest Nintendo has plenty of cause for optimism. The Nintendo Switch has sold over 132 million units across its entire lifetime, including 6.84 million sales during the last quarter.
That meant Switch hardware actually delivered a year-on-year sales increase of 2.4 percent despite having already been on shelves for the best part of a decade.
Nintendo has reinvigorated the Switch over the years by introducing new console variants such as the Switch Lite and the Switch OLED Model, the latter of which sold 4.69 million units during the last quarter.
Discussing the enduring appeal of the console in its latest fiscal report, Nintendo said it still hopes to put several systems in each home around the world.
The evergreen console also continues to attract users, with Nintendo revealing the Switch has boasted over 100 million annual playing users since October 2021. “We can also see that people of all ages, from children to seniors, are enjoying Nintendo Switch,” added the company, which recently began sending Switch hardware to retirement homes across Japan.
It added that Nintendo Switch Online represents another way for users to enjoy the Switch in the long term, and said it will continue expanding content available through the premium subscription service. As of September 30, 2023, Nintendo Switch Online boasted over 38 million subscribers.
Although it seems Nintendo doesn’t intend to ditch the Switch anytime soon, frequent rumblings indicate that a Switch 2 reveal is imminent. A report from VGC published in July claimed the next-gen successor will launch in 2024 as a hybrid console. Another report from the outlet claimed that Nintendo had started briefing developers on its plans for the Switch 2, although Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa recently denied that specific rumor.