An crucial question about the Switch 2 has just been answered. While everyone (at least in the US) is glued to the TV and watching reruns of the 2024 election, Nintendo has officially confirmed that its next game console will be backwards compatible with the Switch.
“During today’s corporate governance briefing, we announced that the Nintendo Switch software will also be playable on the successor to the Nintendo Switch,” said Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa. he wrote on Twitter. “Nintendo Switch Online will also be available on the successor to Nintendo Switch.”
Gamers with huge libraries of Switch games everywhere breathed a sigh of relief. This wasn’t a total surprise, however, as there were some hints that everything on existing hardware could be ported to the Switch 2. Nintendo of America President Doug Bowser previously suggested that the company wanted to ensure a sleek transition between consoles. At the same time, no one would pass up Nintendo doing the unthinkable and defying current expectations to carry older game libraries into the future.
Since Switch Online is also compatible with the next console, it appears that all the emulation work Nintendo has already done to make NES, SNES, Nintendo 64, Game Boy, Game Boy Advance and Sega Genesis games work on its newfangled platform won’t work should be repeated this time when switching from the virtual console of one device to another.
But where does this mean the actual announcement of Switch 2? “More information about the Nintendo Switch successor, including its compatibility with Nintendo Switch, will be announced at a later date,” Furukawa added in his tweet. Many expected a reveal as early as September or October. Now, however, it appears that the window for a 2024 announcement is closing quickly, especially as the company prepares for a holiday onslaught that aims to sell millions more of its existing Switch models.
Nintendo previously said it would announce the Switch 2, or whatever it calls the successor console, before the end of March 2025. Despite the wait, the company today stuck to that timeline, saying nothing has changed.
