Bloomberg Reports 11 Studios Have a 4K Dev Kit for the Switch - News
by William D'Angelo , posted on 29 September 2021 / 2,281 Views
Nintendo next week will release the Nintendo Switch OLED Model. It does not support 4K resolution, which is something people were expecting before it was officially announced.
In a new Bloomberg report, employees at 11 video game studios said their teams have a 4K development kit for the Switch. The companies range from large publishers to small studios, and at least one of them has never made a console before, Zynga.
The Nintendo Switch OLED Model will release on October 8 for $349.99. It will be available in White and Neon Red / Neon Blue color variations. It features a 7-inch OLED screen, a new dock with a wired LAN port, 64GB of internal storage, and enhanced audio for handheld and tabletop play.
A 4K Nintendo Switch is not expected until Holiday 2022 at the earliest, according to people familiar with Nintendo's plans. Nintendo had handed out its 4K development kits by the time the OLED model was announced and had asked developers to design games that support 4K resolution.
It is possible Nintendo does not release a 4K Switch and waits until its next console to release a 4K capable machined.
A life-long and avid gamer, William D'Angelo was first introduced to VGChartz in 2007. After years of supporting the site, he was brought on in 2010 as a junior analyst, working his way up to lead analyst in 2012. He has expanded his involvement in the gaming community by producing content on his own YouTube channel and Twitch channel dedicated to gaming Let's Plays and tutorials. You can contact the author at wdangelo@vgchartz.com or on Twitter @TrunksWD.
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I just hope it is an early devkit for Switch 2 and that it launches no earlier than 2023. I don't want some nonsense mid-gen upgrade (OLED isn't a mid-gen upgrade) that plays exclusive games because then I will have to wait 2-3 years beyond that to get a true successor console. Why would I want a console that just bumps up the resolution and has a small hardware boost when I could wait a little longer for a massive jump?
If they keep it around for at least another 4 years then sure, I'll want a 4k one (a beefy one at that). But I think that would be crazy of them to do, and I don't want that as a consumer.
Also, that quote about entering the mid-life period was roughly 1.5 years ago. It was like late spring/early summer of 2020 when that was stated. Spring/Summer of 2020 was 3-3.25 years after launch, and their normal console life is 6 years, so of course that was entering the midpoint. We are 1.5 years later, so if what they said was true and if their 6-year cycle continues, then we should be looking at Switch 2 in 2023. If that is the case, then we absolutely don't need a 4k Switch in 2022 a year before Switch 2 launches.
If anything, I think they'll just make a clean cut with backwards compatibility.
I don't think there is a such thing as a switch pro/plus/super/whatever. Why would smaller teams have a dev kit before every major developer? There are at least 11 AAA developers that would get one first.
And even if they did, it would be a prototype to survey what kind of features they might want added. Early prototype for the switch 2.
Regardless, Bloomberg has been horribly inaccurate 2 times already. The switch pro was coming out in 2019. Didn't. Then it was coming out this year. Didn't. They're just fishing for clicks. They'll be right eventually because it's inevitable. Late 2024/Early 2025.
If devkits exist and are being corroborated by multiple other developers then it probably is a thing. Will it be another upgrade or a new console, that's the question. Though I'm leaning more towards an upgrade.
I mean, earlier Nintendo only confirmed that the SWITCH itself was the same internal hardware as before - but did they say the same thing about the new dock? And now that we have dock firmware updates, who is to say there isn't an NVIDIA DLSS upscale chip in it? Who is willing to open up their shiny new dock and check lol?
Spawn Wave on YouTube will DEFINITELY be tearing his dock apart lol
If a 4k switch came out, wouldn't it be at least $600? I don't see it being priced lower then PS5 or the Series X.
The digital edition of the PS5 is $400, but the regular version is $500.
The switch 2 will be holiday 2024 at the earliest. March 2025 at the latest.
And you'll be looking at visuals better than the steam deck largely in part to dlss.
There's no switch pro. No, I'm not an insider. Just an educated guess based on the current trends. Nintendo doesn't care about graphics. They care about profits. The switch won't match launch year sales until they're ready for the replacement. No need to rush it.
What are you basing those dates on?
3 things.
I'm fairly certain they have said an 8 year lifespan.
They commented about it being halfway this year.
The sales are still high. So I'm assuming the sales will fall at about the rate they increased. So 4 years up, 4 years down. I'm assuming about 5 million less per year after this year which would be 10 million for 2024. Time for a replacement. As long as the sales are high enough, it's better to ride it out. The profits on the switch will only continue to increase.
I think the speculation was about the new docks being updated to support a 4K switch, not the regular OLED switch being updated to output at 4K.
The main constraint they'd face is that they're converting a USB-c signal within the dock already using a hardware solution. Unless someone has noticed that the chiplet they're using on that converter is different to the one in the launch model, I'd imagine it would be very difficult or impossible
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