Given how early into the current generation of gaming the Nintendo Switch launched, it often feels more behind the other consoles than usual. Due to this, it's often assumed that Nintendo will drop it long before Sony and Microsoft move away from the PS5 and Xbox Series X respectively, perhaps even within the next couple of years. And now, the UK's Competitions & Market Authority might have just spilt the beans.
As part of its investigation into Microsoft's acquisition of Activision Blizzard, the CMA is looking at the industry as a whole. In doing this, it has covered Nintendo's share of the gaming market, briefly going over its Nintendo Switch Online offerings. Here, it says that NSO's cloud gaming is "only available on the Nintendo Switch device and [redacted]". This suggests that the CMA has been made aware of another device that will support Nintendo's cloud gaming, with the studio not ready to unveil this just yet.
This statement was spotted by the subreddit GamingLeaksAndRumours, and opens up two possibilities. Firstly, this could point to the Switch's successor being further along than we thought, with Nintendo having to disclose its existence and future support for cloud gaming to the CMA.
However, it might not necessarily be referring to the next Switch. It's also possible that the statement is referring to NSO cloud gaming being made available on another device, such as PC or mobile. This would be a huge step for Nintendo, making a vast library of older titles available to a wider audience.
It would be a logical move for the company. Microsoft seems to have found great success in doing this with its Game Pass subscription service, which is available on Xbox consoles and PC. It's even available to stream on certain smart TVs, opening the service to those who don't want to invest in expensive gaming equipment.
It remains to be seen if anything comes from this. In the meantime, the CMA will continue to scrutinise the Microsoft and Activision Blizzard merger.