Nintendo is definitely working on a successor to its Switch console, but the new hardware will be nowhere near as powerful as the PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series X|S. This is according to new internal emails from Activision stemming from the FTC v. Microsoft case, one of which, from Chris Schnakenberg (head of Activision’s platform strategy and partner relations), includes a PDF that discusses how the console is “closer…to Gen8 platforms in terms of performance and our previous offerings on PS4 / Xbox One.” Activision CEO Bobby Kotick, who testified during the FTC v. Microsoft hearing to discuss Call of Duty coming to the Switch, met with Nintendo in December 2022 to discuss its next-gen hardware.
Given the closer alignment to Gen8 platforms in terms of performance and our previous offerings on PS4 / Xbox One, it is reasonable to assume we could make something compelling for the NG Switch as well. It would be helpful to secure early access to development hardware prototypes and prove that out nice and early.
FTC: So even without Microsoft buying Activision, it’s likely that Activision would on its own make Call of Duty available for Nintendo’s future console, right?
Kotick: We would consider it once we had the specs, but we don’t have them at present. We missed out on the opportunity for this past generation of Switch, but we’d have to wait until the specifications. We don’t have any present plans to do so.
FTC: It’s likely that Activision on its own would make a Call of Duty game for Nintendo’s future generation console, right?
Kotick: I think once we get the detailed specifications. We missed out on this past generation of Switch, so I’d like to think that we’d be able to do that. We’d have to wait until the specifications, but we don’t have any present plans to do so.
Discussion (5 replies)
Join Discussion →I don't think that's such a bad thing.
For starters, if it does end up being another handheld device - you can only pack so many pixels on that screen and have them be useful anyway.
That, and Gen 8 consoles aren't horrible on visuals. I mean - we still have a Gen 9 console that has ~weaker~ specs than it's Gen 8 counterpart anyway (XBox Series S) - Gen 9 was mostly about the shift to SSD, and for whatever reason, Raytracing.
So to catch up to a Gen 8 device on a mobile form factor, with decent battery life -- yeah, I think that's a win for Nintendo.
The second part would be - Nintendo does best when they just focus on making good games. Whenever they try to swing a big D around on hardware, they abysmally suck at it. So I don't really want Nintendo to go chasing around "top performance" -- they always do best just chasing something robust and useful, but still powerful enough to get a long useful life out of.
Ps4 level performance + ssd + dlss should make for a good time.
As long as it isn't PS4 performance only with DLSS.
SNES, N64 (not in all aspects), and GCN were excellent examples of Nintendo doing a fantastic job with hardware power. But yeah starting with Wii they were low-end sh1t. The problem now is that Switch's level of power isn't one gen behind, it's two gens now, so they need to go back to being at least just one gen behind. Sounds like this proposed Switch 2 would cover that.
Yupz to all of that.
I've heard the Steam Deck is only about as powerful as a PS4 anyways. So that level of power should be sufficient for a handheld console indeed.
DLSS, that would indeed be interesting. If they use nVidia again, DLSS could very well be a possibility.
If they are going with the cut down jetson nano (on optimized samsung 8nm), then performance will be in the range of ryzen z1 non-extreme apu
Otoh, if going with full T239, then something along the likes of the ryzen z1 extreme but subject to the same (handheld) power constraints (9w to 15w)
All bets are off, if nvidia agreed to subsidize a 4nm chip with ada/blackwell