I mean, Nintendo have emptied the well of potential Wii U ports. After March we'll be entering the Switch's sixth year of existence. Keep in mind the average lifecycle for a console is seven years. And it's likely that third party publishers will slow down Switch development with the possibility of the Switch's successor on the horizon.
Discuss.
Switch Physical Collection - 1,459 games (as of June 16th, 2025)
Switch 2 Physical Collection - 2 games (as of June 9th, 2025)
We already have a bunch of great games confirmed for 2022 (Legends Arceus, Kirby, Bayo 3, Splatoon 3, Botw 2 etc) + most likely a handful of unannounced games. I think it will be a good year.
@Magician
There are already bunch of Switch games release.
Thinking about slow down was like only thinking about AAA games without even care the existence of smaller games.
I personally don't even care AAA games.
Smaller games / unpopular games looks more appealing to me than AAA games.
With Wind Waker HD, Twilight Princess HD, Yoshi's Wooly World, Xenoblade Chronicles X, & Paper Mario: Color Splash, there's still enough Wii U ports to fill in enough dry spots in a year if they really need to (maybe they could even find a way to properly port Star Fox: Zero as well).
Though admittedly, unless released in a 2 pack, I don't think they'd release WW & TP in the same year.
I think 2022 will probably have good output (regardless of how many Wii U ports there are), and we'll see things start to slow down in 2023.
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PS4 - Kingdom Hearts III, Tetris Effect (VR)
I'll just copy and paste the games I listed for simplicity's sake:
Botw 2
Bayonetta 3
Splatoon 3
Rune Factory 5
Monster Hunter Rise Sunbreak
Mario Rabbids Spark of Hope
Advance Wars Re-Boot Camp
Triangle Strategy
Kirby Forgotten Land
Pokémon Legends Arceus
Sonic Frontier
For these games confirmed alone 2022 is already to be shaping up to be one of the best years of the Switch games wise. And we're obviously going to get more, maybe some unexpected hitters in the next Nintendo direct.
And even then as mentioned above there are still other Wii U games that could be ported to "fill in the gap" if there is one like: xenoblade x, Yoshis wooly world and all of the Zelda remakes. Personally I just want xenolade x.
As for the platform winding down like the op said the switch still remains to be the top selling console in multiple regions outsellng everything, even with the global stock shortage for consoles.
So no I don't see the losing momentum next year in anyway. Maybe 2023 if not many games are announced and the stock issues grow worse so Nintendo is affected negatively.
Seems like there are plenty of games in the pipeline and a large enough market of Switch owners to entice developers. I think COVID will delay next gen hardware and extend the Switch's lifespan beyond the usual console lifespan.
I don’t see it slowing down. Switch is just now breaking the 100m sold milestone BUT, with momentum of 25 million a year still going strong. I can’t think of any other console that broke 100 million with that kind of momentum.
I remember a lot of developers saying, “we’ll reassess Switch if and when it gets to 100 million”, Which may have been a smart response, but the point is that kind of success brings games. It would be different if it was just barely crossing the milestone with momentum sputtering out to nothing, but crossing that mile stone with the momentum of a jet engine? If anything I expect more developer holdouts to jump on board.
That said, Switch 2 is likely 3 years away, and Nintendo will be planning software for its first few years. So I don’t expect the full brunt of their development teams contributing to Switch over the next couple years. But if the 2022 lineup we have right now is any indication, they are going to be contributing enough. And with 3rd party support as strong as it’s ever been on the system, I honestly think it’s going to be one of the best years of the system to date, perhaps the best.
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The lineup just started and people are already dismissing Switch game releases. One should wait for the new year lineup before making claims before the new year. Sure they have release date but that changes or delays so as anything til it shows release date that's still up in the air.
2022 Should not be a concern. 2023 they can probably cobble together just enough games to keep things interested with enough delays and double dips. 2024 and beyond, I'm less confident will be anything substantial aside from double dips and Wii U ports. Right now we have the following confirmed:
Pokemon Legends Arceus
Advance Wars 1 + 2: Re-Boot Camp
Kirby and the Forgotten Land
Splatoon 3
Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope
Bayonetta 3
BotW2
Metroid Prime 4
Even if nothing else was revealed, that'd be enough for one year (I'm not confident we'll get all of that in one year, but 2022 should be safe). But even beyond that, there's several other rumored games that I think have a good chance of showing up:
Mario Odyssey 2
DK
Xenoblade Chronicles 3
Metroid Prime Remake/Trilogy
Fire Emblem remake
Beyond that gets a bit murkier. There are a few more games that I think have at least a decent shot of releasing before next gen:
Mario Kart
9th Gen Pokemon
Another 9th Gen Pokemon game (Johto remake?)
Oracles remakes
Mario Strikers
Pikmin 4
That feels like just enough for a solid 2022 and 2023 lineup. If the Switch sticks around into 2024 though, that's when I think the lineup will start to get a bit sparse.
@IceClimbers Possibly. Although I'm skeptical that Mystery Dungeon will continue after Rescue Team DX only sold a million and change. That might not be enough to keep the series going.
Possibly. Although I'm skeptical that Mystery Dungeon will continue after Rescue Team DX only sold a million and change. That might not be enough to keep the series going.
As a counterpoint to this, that still makes it one of the best selling games from that particular developer.
Possibly. Although I'm skeptical that Mystery Dungeon will continue after Rescue Team DX only sold a million and change. That might not be enough to keep the series going.
As a counterpoint to this, that still makes it one of the best selling games from that particular developer.
Considering there are other PMD games that have sold about the same if not more, and many of the older PMD games sold in the 2-3 million range, I doubt it and Rescue Team DX's sales aren't much of an accomplishment. Gates to Infinity and Super sold about Rescue Team DX's numbers and PMD went on hiatus for 5 years, which tells me that they might not be satisfied with that level of sales. Rescue Team DX failing to move the needle when the Switch has a larger userbase and a ton of momentum won't instill the kind of confidence needed for the series to continue.
I mean, Nintendo have emptied the well of potential Wii U ports
Well if you take the day the Switch launched as the "last day of the Wii U" the Switch has been on the market for longer than the Wii U since June. So it really shouldn't surprise anyone that it's running out of Wii U games to port. I don't think that alone is a reason to bring on a Switch Pro/2. I mean what's your point here? That they should drop the Switch, reset and start porting those Wii U games all over again to a new platform?
Yeah, there's reason for a hardware revision for sure. Running out of Wii U games to port doesn't really come into the equation but. Or at least it shouldn't. Wii U ports mostly existed just as a way to extract more revenue out of titles that were stuck on a platform that didn't sell particularly well. Now that well is dry? Time to move on. Start pushing more original releases or look at other wells to drain
For example the Wii and GC libraries. They've already dipped their toes in those waters with Mario 3D All Stars and Skyward Sword HD, there's plenty more to get into but. As others have said Wind Waker and Twilight Princess already had HD remasters on Wii U so those are easy. Metroid Prime Trilogy has long been rumoured but it's also a super easy win. I think Wii Sports is potentially another that could make some waves
That's before you even think about series that have all but disappeared. Wario Land, Rhythm Heaven, Mario Strikers, Star Fox, F-Zero, Nintendogs. Those were all million sellers on Wii/DS/GC that are completely absent on Switch. Why not bring them back? Or better yet, make something new?
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Topic: Will 2022 be a slow software release year for Switch?
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