Nintendo Confirms Switch 2 Will Support Backward Compatibility with Switch Games

After Nintendo wrapped up its Corporate Management Policy Briefing, the news rolled out that games on the Nintendo Switch would still be playable on what everyone is unofficially dubbing the Switch 2. This confirmation came directly from their Twitter handle.

For those interested in diving deep, Nintendo has made the full report accessible on their website. It outlines the company’s present standing in the console market. The document reveals some impressive figures, like 146 million units sold from the Nintendo Switch Family and shows that more games are being played on the Switch than any other Nintendo device. This expansive 59-page PDF goes into the gritty details of sales data and offers historical insights. It also confirms Nintendo Switch Online will carry on seamlessly with the introduction of the Switch 2.

Now, for gamers familiar with the landscapes of Sony or Microsoft, this isn’t groundbreaking news. Microsoft has long been the leader in backward compatibility, even boosting the performance of older Xbox titles on its newer consoles. Sony, on the other hand, has had a more restrained approach since the PS3 era. However, the PlayStation 5 does handle PS4 games almost flawlessly and even some classics from the PS1 and PS2 libraries. Unfortunately, PS3 games are only accessible through cloud streaming on the newer Sony consoles, to the disappointment of many PlayStation enthusiasts.

Refocusing on Nintendo, their track record with backward compatibility used to be quite commendable—until the arrival of the Nintendo Switch. Prior systems like the Wii U supported disc games from both the Wii and GameCube, and featured a Virtual Console to bridge the gaps for older titles. Similarly, the Nintendo 3DS could play DS games, although it fell short of supporting Game Boy Advance and earlier handheld titles.

With the advent of the Nintendo Switch—which unified Nintendo’s handheld and home console systems while transitioning from PowerPC to ARM CPU cores—backward compatibility was tossed to the side. Thankfully, the runaway success of the Switch and its Nvidia-powered hardware seems to have sparked a change of heart, ensuring that today’s Switch game purchases won’t become obsolete when the Switch 2 debuts.

There’s hope that this next phase will breathe new life into games like “Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom,” which have been bottlenecked by the Switch’s original hardware. It’s anticipated they’ll run smoother and possibly exceed 60 FPS, without needing emulation tools—something Nintendo is fervent about shutting down. After all, just as Dolphin could emulate GameCube and Wii games, unchecked emulators might eventually replicate the future Switch 2 titles as well.