Shuntaro Furukawa: Switch Successor Will Utilise The ‘Nintendo Account’ System

Despite ongoing rumours and speculation, Nintendo still hasn’t revealed its successor to the Switch. While there doesn’t seem to be any sign of an announcement, company president Shuntaro Furukawa has now provided some details about the transition from the current hybrid platform to the “next-generation machine”.

According to comments made by Furukawa during Nintendo’s recent shareholder Q&A, the plan is to utilise the existing Nintendo Account system to make the jump to the next generation as smooth as possible for customers. Here’s part of what Nintendo’s president had to say, courtesy of a translation by Twitter user Genki:

Shuntaro Furukawa: “As for the transition from Nintendo Switch to the next generation machine, we want to do as much as possible in order to smoothly transition our customers, while utilizing the Nintendo Account.”

Although Nintendo has improved with certain account services, in the past it’s not always made the shift from one generation to the next the easiest. It’s also had some ups and downs with its online infrastructure over the years, and can often take a rather unique approach when it comes to certain aspects of online gaming. There are also no promises (yet) that users’ existing libraries of digital games will necessarily carry across, and it may not necessarily mirror what’s seen on other platforms.

At the very least, this latest update from the company’s president seemingly confirms Nintendo will make it easy for users who are already within the ecosystem. It’s also been noted that there are currently 290 million Nintendo accounts, covering both console and mobile devices.

Once again, there’s no concrete information about the next generation of Nintendo hardware just yet. And admittedly, Nintendo doesn’t appear to be ready to move on from the Switch, especially after the company’s most recent Direct – breathing new life into its aging tech with announcements such as Super Mario Bros. Wonder.

Are you glad to hear Nintendo will be making the transition to next-generation as smooth as possible? Comment below.