Nintendo’s flagship Nintendo Switch has rewritten game console history. Until the Switch’s launch in 2017, the life cycle of a gaming console was typically about five years.

Going into the eighth year since its launch, Nintendo has finally said it will announce a successor to its blockbuster console — a pledge that came after company guidance of a significant profit decline for the current financial year. 

The Japanese gaming company expects operating income to fall by about a quarter to ￥400bn ($2.6bn) in the year to next March on ￥1.35tn in net sales, missing market estimates, with a big drop in Switch sales. Software sales are also expected to decline, from 200mn units to 165mn units. For the March quarter, Nintendo earned an operating profit of ￥64.5bn, also below market expectations — all signs that the extraordinary Switch life cycle may finally be coming to an end.