Nintendo Confirms Backward Compatibility: Switch 2 Supports Original Switch Games

Following its Corporate Management Policy Briefing, Nintendo took to Twitter to reassure fans that games made for the Nintendo Switch will still be playable on what everyone is referring to as the Switch 2.

This commitment came alongside a detailed report available on Nintendo’s website, which dives into the company’s current standing in the console market. It highlights impressive figures, such as the 146 million units sold from the Nintendo Switch family, and notes that more software has been played on the Switch than on any previous Nintendo consoles. The comprehensive 59-page PDF is packed with sales figures and historical insights, also affirming that the Nintendo Switch Online service, along with things like Music, will continue to operate seamlessly when the Switch 2 makes its debut.

For those familiar with the practices of Sony and Microsoft regarding console compatibility, Nintendo’s announcement might seem like a logical step. Microsoft, for instance, has set a gold standard with backward compatibility, offering FPS and Resolution Boosting for older games on newer Xbox consoles. While Sony’s track record since the PS3—which supported games from all preceding consoles—has been less comprehensive, it still does a decent job with PS5 supporting nearly all PS4 games, alongside select titles from the PS2 and PS1 eras through emulation. The one hiccup has been the PS3 games, which PlayStation users can only enjoy through cloud streaming on newer models, which has been a point of frustration for many.

Nintendo hasn’t always had a smooth ride with backward compatibility, especially after the release of the Nintendo Switch. Previously, the Wii U allowed players to enjoy games from both Wii and GameCube through discs, bolstered by a Virtual Console service that filled most of the historical gaps. The Nintendo 3DS also offered backward compatibility with Nintendo DS games, though it fell short concerning Game Boy Advance and older handheld titles due to the lack of a dual-screen feature.

The launch of the Nintendo Switch marked a departure from this trend. As it merged the handheld and home console experiences and transitioned to Arm CPU cores, backward compatibility took a backseat. Yet, thanks to the success of the Nvidia-driven mobile capabilities of the Switch, Nintendo seems to have found a winning formula, providing peace of mind to those buying games now, knowing they won’t be left in the lurch when the Switch 2 comes along.

What excites many is the possibility that some games struggling under the Switch’s original hardware, like The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, could run at over 60 FPS on the new system without resorting to emulation. Nintendo has been keen to crack down on emulators, perhaps due to fears that, much like Dolphin emulates GameCube and Wii, current emulators could potentially run Switch 2 games in the future.