The Nintendo Switch Pro will arrive this year, says analyst

Forward-looking: What will be the best-selling console of 2021? Could the PlayStation 5 take the crown, or will the Xbox Series X gain momentum and beat its rival? According to industry analysts, neither Sony nor Microsoft will come out on top; it will be the Nintendo Switch, and we could finally see the long-rumored Pro version.

In GamesIndustry.biz‘s annual feature, analysts predict industry trends for the year ahead. Mat Piscatella from the NPD Group believes the Nintendo Switch will sell more units than its next-gen rivals in 2021, though he says this be the result of content and promotional efforts, rather than a new model of the hybrid machine.

Dr. Serkan Toto from Kantan Games agrees that the Switch will be the best-selling console of the year, the result of first-party games and “the device having developed into a lifestyle product for the mass market over the course of 2020.”

One area where Toto and Piscatella disagree is the launch of a Switch Pro. Last year, Toto said an updated, 4K-capable Switch Pro would launch in 2020. “There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that Nintendo will launch a “Switch Pro” in 2020, my guess is at $399,” he said at the time. Of course, that never happened, but Toto believes the device will arrive sometime during Nintendo’s next financial year.

Elsewhere, both Toto and Piers Harding-Rolls of Ampere Analysis believe the PS5 will significantly outsell the Xbox Series X. The latter analyst claims Sony’s machine will outsell the combined total of Xbox Series X and S units globally, with around 8.5 million PS5 shipments by the end of March 2021. He also expects a new PSVR to arrive in 2022, which lines up with what Sony CEO Jim Ryan said in October.

Interested to know how Nintendo reached its current lofty position despite past missteps? Check out our Against All Odds: How Nintendo Made It feature.