OatmealDome has discovered an indication in the latest version of the NintendoWare Bezel Engine, which is used for the development of Nintendo Switch games, that it supports frame rates of up to 240 FPS. The current Switch (available on Amazon for $295) can only produce 60 frames per second. It could therefore be that Nintendo is preparing the Switch’s engine for the next generation – and that significantly higher refresh rates are possible here.
However, it is also possible that the NintendoWare Bezel has supported 240Hz for some time and that this feature is not directly related to the Switch successor which is expected to be released in late 2024 or early 2025. According to the dataminer himself, he’s not sure if earlier versions of the engine also offered 240Hz support.
Of course, just because the engine supports 240Hz doesn’t mean that future games for the Switch’s successor will also support high refresh rates. It’s also questionable whether the rumored Switch 2 will even be able to produce such high frame rates.
240 Hertz probably only possible with reduced resolution
According to some rumors, the future Nintendo console will be equipped with Nvidia’s Tegra T239 chip
and 12 GB of RAM. While this makes it significantly more powerful than its predecessor, it would likely only be able to display 240Hz at a greatly reduced resolution. However, the NintendoWare Bezel Engine’s 240Hz compatibility could open the door to a 40FPS/120Hz mode for the Switch’s successor.
Switch 2 with 40 FPS/120 Hz mode
In 40 FPS/120 Hz mode, the game runs at 40 frames per second while the screen is refreshed 120 times per second. Each frame is displayed three times, which can contribute to a smoother visual presentation and better gameplay flow. PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X players are already familiar with this phenomenon thanks to titles such as Destiny 2, Fortnite, Call of Duty: Warzone, Doom Eternal and Rainbow Six Siege. With a 240 Hz motor, such a mode would also be possible for the successor to the Switch.
