Bloomberg reported earlier today that at least 11 studios were in possession of a 4K Nintendo Switch development kit earlier this year.
The report went on to say that Nintendo likely changed plans and dropped the 4K element, instead opting to release the Nintendo Switch OLED, likely due to chip short issues.
Nintendo has quickly taken to Twitter (something it doesn’t do very often) to refute the report on this:
“A news report on Sept. 30, 2021(JST) falsely claims that Nintendo is supplying tools to drive game development for a Nintendo Switch with 4K support. To ensure correct understanding among our investors and customers, we want to clarify that this report is not true. We also want to restate that, as we announced in July, we have no plans for any new model other than Nintendo Switch – OLED Model, which will launch on October 8, 2021.”
We also want to restate that, as we announced in July, we have no plans for any new model other than Nintendo Switch – OLED Model, which will launch on October 8, 2021. (2/2)
— ?????????????IR? (@NintendoCoLtd) September 30, 2021
My take on it: I absolutely believe at this point that Nintendo planned to release a Nintendo Switch Pro this year and decided against it, either for logistical reasons, or simply because it hit a point where they realised they’d be better off getting a year or two more out of the Nintendo Switch before jumping to a new generation with a 4K Switch.
It’d create way too big of a segmentation to have a more powerful, 4K Switch introduced half way through the life cycle. There’d be way too much of a disparity between launch Switch units and a much more powerful 4K Nintendo Switch. Maybe not so much for Nintendo first party games, but AAA third-party publishers that want to release newer release games on the 4K Nintendo Switch, but then would not be able to support the game on the original Switch.
It’s going to be interesting to see how this shakes out over the next 12-24 months, as obviously that 4K market is more important than ever right now.
