I think Switch will not be affected that much by the upcoming consoles. The Switch is barely getting any of the AAA third party games now, so not much will change going into the new gen. Indies are likely to remain supportive of Switch due to the nature of the console, Nintendo’s great support, and the great reception they have from Switch fans, even if there are so many games coming out of the eshop.
Outside of that, the Switch will continue as long as Nintendo provides adequate first party software, which is sorta hard at this time due to the pandemic. But it seems to be working in their favor in a sense as we see from the recent months of sales charts as they can barely provide adequate supply of their hardware (and sometimes software) and they are dominating left and right. Japan is basically Nintendo Land before their actual theme park has even opened yet. Right now, they are probably taking it on the safe side and do not need a January 2013-like direct unless they are ready to show progress of their upcoming titles they know will come sooner than later.
Not to mention, the prices from the upcoming consoles will be relatively high, if rumors and reports are correct. $400-500 consoles will be tough sells for some potential buyers, especially when the US is struggling economically. While we had a recession back in the late 2000s, this is different. People are losing their jobs, struggling to get new jobs as businesses are still struggling to open again, especially as we see an increase in COVID cases recently. If stay-at-home orders extend to a certain point (like Fall), it’s gonna be really tough for the ordinary mom and pop or adult trying to make ends meet to consider buying new hardware for $400-500 with games (not to mention subscriptions, accessories, and the like), even during the holidays. Even Sony said they are planning for a limited launch for the PS5 this holiday.
Last edited by Kai_Mao - on 16 June 2020
