Nintendo 4K devkits are for Switch 2 console claims latest rumour

If there is no Switch Pro then what comes next? (pic: Metro.co.uk)

A new rumour suggests that developers are working on 4K Nintendo games for a Switch 2 console, but that it may not be backwards compatible.

The only thing you can say for certain about the future of the Switch format is that you’ll never get so much as hint from Nintendo about it, until the day it’s officially announced.

For years now there have been rumours of a more powerful ‘Switch Pro’, as well as developers working with 4K devkits – something which came up again last month but which, unusually, Nintendo categorically denied.

That’s the best indication yet that it’s true but while further rumours insist the stories about 4K devkits are true it claims that they’re actually for a brand new Switch 2 or Switch 4K format and not just a simple upgrade.

Rumourmonger NateDrake, who was right about N64 games coming to a more expensive tier of Nintendo Switch Online, claims that larger publishers and developers got 4K devkits (the specially modified versions of a console used to create games) in late 2020, with smaller studios getting them this year.

However, he believes that the new console is no longer a Switch Pro style upgrade but instead a Switch 2. He admits there is some uncertainty on that fact though and it seems that Nintendo itself may currently be undecided on whether to market it as a new model or a brand new console.

The 4K resolution will be achieved through DLSS technology, with Nintendo having recently registered a patent for exactly that. There’s also the fact that the OLED model dock can already output at 4K.

The talk of 4K games is backed up by dataminers, although their findings suggest that the new console might not be backwards compatible. However, posting on ResetEra, NateDrake seems to be confident that this issue can be overcome.

According to his information developers are already working on 4K games, with a target of finishing work by late 2022. The goal is apparently to launch the new hardware somewhere between Christmas 2022 and early 2023 (the original Switch launched in March 2017) depending on supply constraints.

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Stories of 4K games and more powerful hardware have been going on for so long now it’s hard not to assume they’re true, but the fact remains that not only is there no evidence but Nintendo denies everything.

At some point though the Switch is going to need to be replaced or updated with new technology and while the rumours suggest that will happen within a year or so from now, we’ll never know for sure until Nintendo makes an official announcement.

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