Despite some scepticism from the gaming community before launch, the Nintendo Switch has been selling incredibly well, eclipsing the lifetime sales of its predecessor, the Wii U, in less than a year. In response to this warm reception, Nintendo has now suggested that the Switch may see a longer lifecycle than their previous consoles.

In a recent investor Q&A, Co-Representative Director of Nintendo, Shigeru Miyamoto revealed that the Nintendo Switch may have a lifecycle that exceeds the commonly seen five to six year lifespan that most Nintendo consoles generally tend to maintain.

As to how the console would be able to remain relevant for such a long period, Miyamoto suggested that the Switch is still the only console that allows users to play on-the-go thus offering game and other software developers assets not available on any other system.

Launched in March 2017, the Nintendo Switch has sold over selling 14.86 million units in the ten months that it has been available. The console is currently outpacing the rate at which the PlayStation 2 (the highest-selling console of all time) was sold.

Much of the console’s success has been attributed to the hybrid nature of the device (the fact that it works both as a handheld and a home console) and the extremely well-received line-up of exclusive titles available for the device, including games such as The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Super Mario Odyssey and Splatoon 2.

While every single console sees a sales drop at some point in its lifecycle, it will be interesting to see whether the Nintendo Switch is indeed able to remain popular with the gaming community long enough to warrant making its lifecycle longer than five to six years. Especially, if Sony and Microsoft decide to release next-generation consoles within that time period.

(Source: Nintendo)