Activision Blizzard CEO Was Briefed on the Nintendo Switch 2 in December 2022

After recent reports of a successor to the Nintendo Switch being shown off to developers during Gamescom, a new report courtesy of The Verge reveals that Activision Blizzard CEO Robert Kotick was briefed on the Nintendo Switch 2 back in December 2022.

According to The Verge, emails between executives at Activision Blizzard reveal that Kotick had spoken with Nintendo President Shuntaro Furukawa about the new console back in December. The emails were made public with redactions as part of the FTC’s case against Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard earlier this year.

One email courtesy of Activision’s Chris Schnakenberg indicated that Nintendo’s next console will be a serious upgrade over the current Switch, with the new console being stated to be better than the PS4 and Xbox One.

“Given the closer alignment to Gen8 platforms in terms of performance and our previous offerings on PS4 / Xbox One, it is reasonable to assume we could make something compelling for the NG Switch as well,” Schnakenberg wrote. “It would be helpful to secure early access to development hardware prototypes and prove that out nice and early.”

A recent report from earlier this month indicated that Nintendo’s follow-up to the Switch would be even closer to current-gen console performance, with developers at Gamescom being shown Epic Games’ The Matrix Awakens showcase, which was made using Unreal Engine 5. The report also indicated that the Nintendo Switch 2 would be capable of ray tracing, as well as making use of Nvidia’s DLSS technology to maintain performance.

While Nintendo is yet to make any real public announcement for the Switch 2, the console is expected to hit store shelves some time in the second half of 2024—7 years after the launch of the original Nintendo Switch.