Is IGN Being Weirdly Hostile Toward the Switch 2?
Maybe I'm reading too much into it. But some of IGN's recent Switch 2 coverage has been...interesting.
It started with an article arguing that the Switch 2 has a problem the original Switch didn't have: handheld gaming PCs. I understand the argument, but I don't really buy that this is some major threat to Nintendo. The Switch 2 isn't trying to compete with a $1,000+ gaming PC in your hands. It's a Nintendo console that happens to be a handheld.
Then came a very rage bait-y video about Nintendo "losing its soul.” It came across as a fairly arbitrary take, with some odd complaints mixed in, and it certainly caused a commotion online. But opinion and conversation pieces like this are nothing out of the ordinary, whether they're made in good faith or not.
And then, IGN did their the sales coverage.
When Nintendo released their FY report, IGN really wanted to emphasize that Switch 2 sales being down year-over-year compared with the same period last year. But...last year's numbers included the launch of the Switch 2.
Of course sales are going to decline from the launch period!
The bigger picture is that the Switch 2 has sold more than 23 million units in roughly its first year. That's phenomenal. The original Switch didn't come close to that pace during its first year.
I’m really puzzled by IGN’s negative framing here…
They aren’t lying. Switch quarterly sales are down YoY. With June being the Switch 2 launch month last year, that's completely normal. But framing that as evidence that the Switch 2 is somehow struggling ignores just how successful the system has been.
But what made this even more ridiculous is that they tweeted the story TWICE and got community noted TWICE on Twitter/X:
The above wasn’t enough so they had to let everyone knew again:
So we have:
Handheld PCs are supposedly a major problem for Switch 2
Nintendo is supposedly losing its soul.
Sales are slowing down
Meanwhile, Nintendo has a console that has sold more than 23 million units in its first fiscal year.
What exactly is going on with IGN's Switch 2 coverage?
Maybe it's nothing. Maybe it's simply different writers having different opinions.
But damn...the coverage has been getting increasingly difficult to ignore.