Bloomberg reports on Nintendo Switch 4K dev kits distribution to developers, but Nintendo publicly denies it

Publication date of the original Japanese article: 2021-09-30 09:49 (JST)
Translated by. Ryuki Ishii

[UPDATE 2021/09/30 11:50 JST]
Changed the embedded content from a Japanese tweet to an English tweet. Also updated the text to fit the English tweet’s wordings.

[Original Text]
On September 30, Nintendo’s official Twitter account for IR/corporate communications denied the report currently circulating around regarding Nintendo Switch development kits with 4K graphics support. Nintendo states that the said report “falsely claims that Nintendo is supplying tools to drive game development for a Nintendo Switch with 4K support. To ensure correct understanding among our investors and customers, we want to clarify that this report is not true.”

The company also stressed that they have “no plans for any new model other than Nintendo Switch – OLED Model” at this time.

Nintendo is most likely talking about the Bloomberg’s report that recently came out. The article was co-written by Takashi Mochizuki and Olga Kharif, and it reports that Nintendo Switch development kits with 4K resolution support were provided to at least 11 companies, including Zynga. Based on information provided by employees of the 11 companies, Bloomberg reported that Nintendo was working on a 4K capable Nintendo Switch model, but that plan has been changed or postponed.

The report also states that the new model coming out in October was originally planned to be 4K capable, but Nintendo changed course due to component shortage caused by the spread of COVID-19.

Bloomberg sent multiple questions to Nintendo about the 4K capable development kits, but according to the publication, Nintendo responded by saying the inquired information is “inaccurate,” but did not specify exactly which part was false. And now, Nintendo similarly denied the claim with a public statement via Twitter.

Bloomberg has been reporting on the new Nintendo Switch model for quite a while. And it’s not the first time Nintendo publicly denied the publication’s report. Previously, Blomberg published an article that stated the new OLED model will be more profitable than the existing Switch model, and Nintendo publicly denied the information on Twitter shortly after(see related article, in Japanese).

As I mentioned earlier, Nintendo stresses that the company has no plans for any new models other than the new OLED model at this time, so they’re probably focusing on existing models and the new OLED model, for now.

Nintendo Switch OLED model is scheduled to launch on October 8.