24 February 2023 , 17:23
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UK regulators may have just inadvertently confirmed the existence of an as of yet unreleased Nintendo Switch 2 console.
The CMA (Competition and Markets Authority) is dealing with the Microsoft-Activision deal here in the UK, with its initial findings stating that Microsoft successfully buying Activision Blizzard could “harm” UK gamers. It even suggests that Call of Duty could be removed from the deal entirely as a compromise for the deal to go through. Now though, the CMA may have accidentally confirmed that the Nintendo Switch 2 is coming.
Hidden away in an extremely large document, published by the CMA, is a peculiar line during a section talking about cloud gaming. Notably, the CMA hadn't included Nintendo Switch Online in its reporting about cloud gaming as “Nintendo’s cloud gaming service is very limited” which is very true. The next line however is the interesting one: “Nintendo’s cloud gaming service is only available on the Nintendo Switch device and [REDACTED]” which certainly seems to imply that there will be a successor to the Nintendo Switch.
This is just one more piece of evidence in favour of the console releasing sooner rather than later. Last December, a Nintendo Switch 2 release date of 2024 was hinted at, and at the start of the month, we heard reports that The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom was set to be the final major switch title and that we could see a Nintendo Switch 2 as early as 2024.
CM-ayyyyyy
Truth be told, the writing has been on the wall for the Switch for a while. Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity was a miserable experience on the Nintendo Switch due to an atrocious framerate, even The Legend Of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, which launched with the system, had framerate issues. Both Xbox and PlayStation are almost two generations ahead of the Nintendo Switch hardware-wise, so more third parties are leaving the platform behind, or just pushing out crap cloud versions.
Nintendo Switch 2 release set for next year as Zelda ushers in the end of Switch
Obviously, we don't need a Nintendo Switch 2 that overpowers the PS5, that’s just not feasible, but one that puts out equal or higher power than the Steam Deck would go down a treat at the moment. Games like Metroid Prime Remastered show that Nintendo themselves still knows how to put out great-looking titles on the Switch, but third parties aren’t having the same luck.
The Nintendo Switch is almost six years old at this point and will be seven next year, which was roughly the same age as the PS4 and Xbox One when their successors came out. Signs are pointing to a Nintendo Switch 2 in 2024, let’s just hope they pan out.