A piece of a document from the continuing Microsoft negotiations to acquire Activision Blizzard has given probably the best hint that a new Nintendo Switch model, possibly a successor to the original, is in development.
While there have been a great many rumors about a new Nintendo console, which many have simply been calling the “Switch 2”, “Switch Pro”, or some other variant, there has never been any true indication that such a console has been in development, though a Switch variant, the OLED Switch, was released in 2021.
The hint came from a part of the document that said that Microsoft was committed to continuing to allow future Call of Duty games to be developed for what it termed an “in-development Switch model”, which is the only apparent hint that we got in the entire document.
Granted, the full context of this statement was that the FTC was objecting to that line of thinking because Microsoft couldn’t possibly know the future and whether or not a new Switch model was actually coming, so it’s possible that Microsoft was just hedging its bets. However, there’s also the possibility that Nintendo has been in contact with Microsoft about it.
The Nintendo Switch hasn’t had any Call of Duty games released for it, though the fact that the default Switch can handle Wolfenstein 2: The New Colossus and Crysis 2: Remastered have shown that graphically intense shooters aren’t beyond the Switch, so the possibility of Microsoft allowing a Switch 2 port of future Call of Duty games might mean that Call of Duty games will once again come to Nintendo consoles.
Either way, we’ll have to wait for official word from Nintendo to see if an actual Switch 2 is anywhere in the making. So far Nintendo has been mum on the issue, but they might be waiting for the right time, like they did with the Switch.
