Nintendo has revealed its plans to prevent scalpers from affecting its economy by making more consoles in order to meet the demand of its players.
In March 2017, when the Nintendo Switch was initially released, it suffered from a constrained supply that boosted scalpers who sold the device at inflated prices. In the past few years, the manufacture of the console was affected by a shortage of components, which made it difficult to find.
Nintendo's Answer to Scalpers
(Photo : Nintendo / Screenshot taken from official website)
Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa spoke during an investor-focused Q&A, noting that things will be different when it comes to launching the successor of the Switch. The translation of the discussions had him saying that the countermeasure against resale was to produce a sufficient number of units to meet demand.
Furukawa added that this particular idea to combat scalpers has not changed since last year. On top of this, they are considering whether there are any other measures that they can take to the extent allowed by laws and regulations while taking into consideration the circumstances of each region, according to IGN.
He said that while they failed to produce sufficient quantities of the Nintendo Switch last year and the year before, the issue has not been resolved. At this time, they do not believe that the shortage of components will significantly impact the production of the Switch's successor.
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Nintendo said in May that it would announce the Switch successor console "within this fiscal year," which means sometime before Mar. 31, 2025. In a statement on X, formerly known as Twitter, Furukawa also confirmed the new console but did not give out its name or share a release window.
Reports in February indicated that the Switch 2 as it is called for now was delayed until the early months of 2025. Various sources also claimed that Nintendo told publishers that the console was originally planned to be released at the end of 2024.
The Switch Successor
During his talk, Furukawa was also asked how the Japanese video game company would support indie developers with the new console. He answered that Nintendo has been improving development tools and improving support for developers, said Kotaku.
He also mentioned the regular Indie World strand of its Direct streams. Furukawa added that indie games are essential to increasing the appeal of the platform, which means that they would rather continue to strengthen these activities in the future.
Despite Furukawa's mention of the Nintendo Switch 2, the console itself did not make an appearance at this year's Nintendo Direct. He noted that they value surprising their customers in a positive way.
Additionally, he argued that sharing specific product information or sales strategies in advance would only diminish that surprise factor. This means that the company intentionally did not include the Switch 2 in its sales forecasts.
This was also seen with the surprise release of the OLED Nintendo Switch in 2021, showcasing how the company consistently plays it close to the vest. The Switch successor is expected to significantly improve upon the original console in nearly every way, according to CNET.
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