Nintendo Considering “Innovative Ideas” For Next-Gen Console, Details To Be Shared At “Most Suitable Time”

During Nintendo’s latest investor Q&A, President Shuntaro Furukawa answered some questions regarding the potential for a new console to succeed the Nintendo Switch, which has been the topic of many rumors recently.

These questions and answers were translated via VGC and Robert Sephazon. The first bit of insight comes from Furukawa answering a question about whether the company would be aiming to grow or sustain the existing Switch playerbase with a potential new console. In his response, Furukawa seemingly confirmed that they are working on “innovative ideas” for a potential next-gen console, although he could not go into specifics. He also stated their current priority is to focus on the Switch for its seventh year on the market.

The growth rate of our annual active player base has begun to level off compared to what it was 3-4 years ago, we believe our next step is to focus on keeping high user activity while also attracting new users.

The lifecycle of a console is often based on the timing of major game releases, and therefore affects our continued commitment to software production. Moreover, we find it essential to continue providing new opportunities for customers to engage with the Nintendo Switch, beyond just the launch of new games.

We don’t believe that a secure number of annual active users negates the need for a next-gen console release, while we’re not at a stage to discuss specifics about a potential next-gen console, we’re continually considering innovative ideas that could offer new and unique experiences. We’re developing a variety of things with that future in mind.

In the event of a future hardware launch, the annual active user numbers will be heavily impacted by the number of hardware units sold. Knowing this, it’s important to maintain a substantial customer base that can enjoy Nintendo’s dedicated gaming systems and ensure that we have a smooth transition to the next generation console.

Nevertheless, at this point, our foremost priority is to maintain and expand the Nintendo Switch, now in its seventh year, and to sustain our business momentum.

In addition, Furukawa also answered a question about whether a future console reveal would follow the same timeline as the Switch, which was announced two years before its official launch. According to Furukawa, this approach was taken due to some unusual circumstances at the time, and that future announcements would be made at more “suitable times”. The implication of this response seems to be that a potential new console would be announced much closer to its eventual release date, unlike the Switch.

This announcement coincided with our partnership with DeNA Co., Ltd. for the development of games for smart phones and support for the new Nintendo Account system.

At that time, as we were venturing into the mobile business, we felt it was important to reassure our audience that Nintendo’s primary focus remained on our dedicated game console business. This is why the timing of the Nintendo Switch announcement was a unique situation.

Moving forward, our strategy is to disclose information about our products, including both hardware and software, at the most suitable times to reach our broad customer base.

That said, it seems Furukawa was quite careful not to give too much details about Nintendo’s next console, leaving us still fairly in the dark about their plans for the coming months. Stay tuned for more updates as they come.

What do you think? Let us know in the comments.