We still know next to nothing about the Nintendo Switch 2, but one of the biggest questions about the Switch successor has now been answered. According to Nintendo, the next Nintendo Switch console will be backward compatible with games from the original Switch. While exactly what that means is still up in the air, at least some of the games in your current library will be playable on the Switch 2.
“This is Furukawa,” Nintendo wrote on social media, repeating a format that’s already become a meme after previous announcements. “At today's Corporate Management Policy Briefing, we announced that Nintendo Switch software will also be playable on the successor to Nintendo Switch. Nintendo Switch Online will be available on the successor to Nintendo Switch as well.”
Speculation has run rampant over whether the eventual Switch 2 would be backward compatible with games from the current console. Backward compatibility seemed like not only the best option for players, but also a sound business decision to keep people buying games for the original Switch. On the other hand, trying to predict what Nintendo is going to do next has proven consistently difficult. Who would have predicted that the company would announce an alarm clock before formally announcing the Switch 2, after all?
The confirmation of backward compatibility came with another small announcement that many players were waiting for: Nintendo Switch Online will continue to work on the new console. Combined with backward compatibility, that likely means that Switch 2 owners will be able to play multiplayer games with those playing them on the original Switch, and that you’ll be able to purchase digital games for the original Switch to play on your new console. It also means that Nintendo’s retro game offerings for subscribers will continue to the next generation, and it’s not clear if the service will work any differently for the two consoles.
Furukawa’s message leaves a little room for uncertainty on the Switch 2’s backward compatibility as well. As he says, “Nintendo Switch software” will be playable on the Switch 2, but it’s possible that only includes digital games. It’s entirely possible that Nintendo’s next console will change its cartridges enough that physical Switch titles will no longer work with the new hardware. That certainly seems like it would be a strange choice for the company to make, but again, trying to predict Nintendo’s next move is almost always a fool’s errand.
“Further information about the successor to Nintendo Switch, including its compatibility with Nintendo Switch, will be announced at a later date,” Furukawa wrote.
Nintendo has already said it will announce the Switch 2 by March 2025 at the latest, which leaves a lot of room to wonder about other details about the console. As for when the announcement will actually come, it may be closer to that deadline that many fans would like.
“Making an announcement this year has gotten quite difficult,” Toyo Securities analyst Hideki Yasuda told Reuters this week. “You would not want to divert attention to an upcoming console in the middle of the critical year-end shopping season.”
That comment follows the announcement that Nintendo is cutting its annual profit forecast by 10 percent due to declining Switch sales. Given that, it makes sense that Nintendo would avoid doing anything that could cut into its sales further.
Whenever the official Switch 2 reveal happens, we at least know that one of the features players have been most anxious to hear about will be part of the package. Backward compatibility makes it easier to make the move to new hardware early without having to build an entirely new game library, which could make the Switch 2 launch better for players and Nintendo itself.
