Nintendo confirms Switch game compatibility with Switch 2

Nintendo has yet to reveal the Switch 2 but it’s most certainly on the way with a planned release sometime in early 2025, and there’s one question that many who plan to buy the console have been thinking about, whether or not the Switch 2 will have compatibility with older Switch games. This is a question that has gone unanswered since Nintendo acknowledged a new Nintendo console was coming.

Even before then, there were discussions revolving around the capability to play Switch games on the next console. This goes double for any games that have recently been released, as people may take a while to beat a game, and might have interest in playing it on the new hardware if at all possible. There’s also another factor to think about. Games that are released onto the Switch but are close enough to the Switch 2 release that they may get an updated version.

In that instance, do you decide to buy the Switch 2 version or the Switch version? Especially if the Switch version would be incompatible with the new console. If you choose the latter, then you lock yourself out of playing until the Switch 2 comes out. Even then you’d have to wait on a new version of that game. But that won’t be an issue people have to consider any longer.

Nintendo Switch 2 will have compatibility with older Switch games

The news of this confirmation comes from Nintendo’s second-quarter financial results (via The Verge and Kotaku) where Nintendo discusses much of its successes this fiscal year in addition to the future of Nintendo. Toward the end of this fiscal report, Nintendo President Shuntaro Furukawa notes that “until Nintendo Switch, there was no easy way to have consumers’ purchase and gameplay histories carry over across platform generations. As a result, our relationship with the consumers was interrupted when a new system was purchased.”

Switch has been a huge hit for Nintendo since its launch. A big part of that was the ability for the Switch to be both a home console and a handheld system. Nintendo wants to keep its consumer relationship in good standing. The ability to play Nintendo Switch games on the upcoming system will play a big role in that. As will the ability to roll over the Nintendo Switch accounts

Additionally, Furukawa states that there will be more information to share about the upcoming Switch successor at a later date. This will include details about the confirmed Switch game compatibility.

Over 100 million people have played Nintendo Switch

Outside of the few comments about the Switch successor Nintendo talked a lot about the Switch and how it has become such a big part of people’s lives. People were so intrigued and happy with the idea of a home console that could be played outside the home that the Nintendo Switch has steadily gone from being one per family to one per person in many situations. Nintendo also confirmed that there have now been 146 million Switch units sold in the console’s lifetime. As well as 1.3 billion units of Nintendo Switch software as of September 30, 2024.

Since the Nintendo Switch’s launch, over 100 million people have played games on it. Nintendo also notes that there are 34 million Nintendo Switch Online members. This service is tied to the Nintendo Account and will make the transition over to the Switch 2. Or whatever its actual name ends up being. Nintendo says it still plans to unveil the new hardware before April 2025.