Nintendo Switch successor set to launch “as early as 2024” according to Microsoft

For a long time, fans have speculated about the release date of Nintendo's next console, and Microsoft has seemingly revealed that it could be just around the corner.

The details:

• In a court document from Microsoft's recent court victory over the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the company explains why, unlike its "direct" rival PlayStation, it does not track Nintendo's overall sales performance. During the explanation, it is stated that Nintendo's next console could be released as early as 2024. “Switch was released three years earlier, and Nintendo is expected to release the successor to the Switch as early as next year, whereas PlayStation 5 and the Xbox Series X|S are at a different stage of the console life cycle,” reads the document.
• Nintendo's next console has been rumored for years, with the Switch now more than six years old and games like The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom beginning to test its limits. An alleged leaker claimed in February that a new console was on the way, along with a "graphics enhancement patch" for Pokémon Scarlet and Violet, with a release date of early 2024. In a recent interview, Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot stated that Nintendo advised the company to wait for the release of a new console before releasing Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hope, implying that we could hear something official very soon.
• Still, the Switch is a huge success. Nintendo did, however, publicly state earlier this year that overall year-on-year sales have begun to decline, and president Doug Bowser stated that the platform had a "few years" left, so it wouldn't be surprising if it opts to gradually phase out the console by releasing games on both the Switch and the new console in the future, as it did with the underperforming Wii U.

More Nintendo news:

• In Japan, the Nintendo Switch had its best June sales since its launch in 2017. The release of The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom in May, as well as several high-profile Nintendo announcements, including two new Mario titles, are thought to have contributed to the sudden increase in sales.
• Masahiro Sakurai, a legendary Nintendo designer, has revealed that he is interested in making a sequel to 2012's Kid Icarus: Uprising, but that creating another game will be difficult. He went on to say that it's a "shame" that the game is only available for the 3DS and that he'd love to play on a "bigger screen with smoother graphics.”