Nintendo’s next game platform, the codenamed NX, will launch worldwide in March 2017.
The company made the announcement as part of its quarterly earnings report this morning. The NX is Nintendo’s next bid to gain back the ground it lost during the Wii U generation.
“For our dedicated video game platform business, Nintendo is currently developing a gaming platform codenamed ‘NX’ which is a brand-new concept, and our unique software-led hardware-software integrated business will continue to constitute the core business for Nintendo,” the company said in its earnings statement issued today.
The NX will be complemented by a new mobile strategy at Nintendo that will supplement its traditional dedicated hardware and software business.
“For the purpose of maximizing the population that interacts with Nintendo IP, we have entered into the smart device gaming business,” the statement continued. “We will aim to create a synergetic effect between the smart device business and Nintendo’s dedicated game system business to maximize the Nintendo businesses overall by growing our smart device business so that it is profitable on its own while continuously strengthening our connection with our consumers by enhancing features of our new membership service called My Nintendo”
In a follow-up tweet Nintendo revealed its upcoming Legend of Zelda title will be launching simultaneously on both the Wii U and NX in 2017. Nintendo said the NX will not make an appearance at E3 this June in L.A., but will be officially unveiled later in the year.
The NX was first confirmed in March 2015 in part to reassure fans and investors that the company wasn’t losing its “passion or vision for the business of dedicated video game system.”
At the time the NX was described by former Nintendo president, Satoru Iwata, as a new game platform featuring “a brand-new concept.”
Details on the NX have been thin on the ground since then, although Yoichi Erikawa, president and CEO of Japanese publishing giant, Koei Tecmo, did hint late last year that the system would be a dedicated console.