An established industry insider has given more credence to a recent rumor that Nintendo is planning to introduce a new Switch model later in 2023. A known Pokemon leaker previously claimed an upgraded Switch variant is coming sometime this year.
According to a February 27 leak attributed to a staffer from a Pokemon outsourcing team, their studio is currently working on a Pokemon Scarlet and Violet graphics upgrade targeting the new "models" of Nintendo's hit hybrid console which is planned to release alongside the second wave of DLC for the new RPGs. While the jury is still out on that particular claim, it arrived alongside a wide variety of details about the first Pokemon Scarlet and Violet DLC that were all confirmed during the latest Pokemon Presents broadcast. The source correctly predicted the title of the paid expansion, names and types of Paradox Virizion and Suicune, and a number of minor updates to the latest mainline Pokemon games, as well as information about several new legendaries that Game Freak has been working on.
Well-known industry insider Jeff Grubb has now added more credence to the only remaining part of that massive leak in need of verification. In his latest YouTube live stream, Grubb said he's also been hearing rumblings about a new Switch model being in the works with a tentative launch window of winter 2023. The reporter noted that his sources are not fully in agreement that a new variant of Nintendo's hit console will be announced this year, and even if it will, it would still remain to be seen whether it actually hits the market during the holiday season.
For context, the only two Switch revisions to date were both announced in July, the Lite variant was revealed in 2019, while the OLED Model was confirmed two years later, and took between two and three months to release. Should Nintendo opt to put out new hardware in 2023, it's plausible the company follows a similar launch strategy, especially seeing how the holiday season is historically the most lucrative period of the year for the gaming industry. As for what this upcoming system might be, Switch Pro rumors have been circulating the industry for years now, which might indicate a minor upgrade with a more powerful system-on-chip is a likelier possibility than a next-generation console.
Either way, this is not the first time that information about a potential Switch successor made its way online thanks to the iconic pocket monsters; back in November 2022, one Pokemon developer mentioned "next-generation hardware" in a job listing, revealing that it's looking for a 3D character modeler who'd be involved in research and development with respect to a still-unannounced platform. That official posting dovetails with this latest rumor that Pokemon Scarlet and Violet will receive a graphics update on the new system, in addition to giving more credence to the possibility that the next Nintendo console will be another variant of the Switch, or at the very least offer backwards compatibility with its predecessor.