Nintendo’s reportedly delaying the Switch 2, as gaming giants look beyond consoles

Banana peels on Rainbow Road… Nintendo shares fell after weekend reports that the Japanese gaming icon could delay its next console till March 2025. The Switch’s successor was originally set for a year-end release, perfectly timed to stuff Santa’s bag. A delay would mean Nintendo would miss out on holiday shopping. It could also mean a year with few original games in the warp pipeline as Nintendo saves hit titles (Mario, Zelda) for its next console.

• Superstar: With 139M units sold, the seven-year-old Switch is estimated to be the third-best-selling console ever. The Switch’s top seller, “Mario Kart 8 Deluxe,” is the sixth- best-selling game of all time.

Choose your character… Compared to the Switch, rival consoles may as well be NPCs. Estimates peg sales of Microsoft’s Xbox Series X and S at 27M, while Sony said it’s sold 55M PlayStation 5s. Last week Sony shaved its forecast for yearly PS5 sales by 4M, adding that the console is entering “the latter stage of its life cycle.” Sony won’t be releasing any major PS5 games for a year+, with analysts saying its gaming profit margins are drifting toward decade lows. Meantime, Xbox recently quashed rumors it was exiting the console biz when it said that it’s working on next-gen hardware. Still, Microsoft’s focus may be shifting to software:

• POV switch: Microsoft’s gaming revenue jumped 49% in the quarter following its $69B acquisition of Call of Duty developer Activision Blizzard.

• Co-op: Yesterday, Nintendo confirmed rumors that several previously Xbox-exclusive games are headed to the Switch.