Nintendo officially researching VR, AR, and MR hinting at dedicated headset

Nintendo has been rumored to be working on a VR device for some time now as a few patents have been spotted online. Now, the latest financial report has mentioned ongoing research into VR and other methods of interaction, officially confirming that there something related to virtual reality is in the pipeline at Nintendo.

The annual report for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2025 includes sales numbers, company strategy and growth plans, management policy, and more. One of the topics of discussion is "Research and development activities." In there, the company talks about what’s being researched and states, “We also carry out research and development activities to examine the applicability of various technologies to the field of home entertainment including interfaces such as touch panels and sensors, networks such as those for wireless communication, security, cloud computing, virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR) and mixed reality (MR), deep learning and big data analysis.”

At this point, it is unclear if this refers to a Nintendo Labo Toy-Con 04 VR Kit style HMD system or a dedicated standalone VR headset. Interestingly, the latter seems more likely as back in October and November of 2024, a couple of Nintendo patents were spotted on the US patent office’s website suggesting that the device will have its own CPU and GPU. This means the Nintendo VR device will not have to connect with the Switch 2 or the original Switch.

Of course, nothing of that sort launched or was even talked about around the launch of the Switch 2. But, with the research section in the latest financial report and the patents from last year, Nintendo clearly wants to enter the dedicated VR space like Sony’s PSVR 2 and the Meta Quest 3.