Nintendo says its Switch successor will be backward compatible with Switch games

Nintendo hasn’t announced its Switch successor yet, but we do know one thing for sure: it will be able to play current Switch games, and have carryover for your Nintendo Switch Online services and account. The news was announced during Nintendo’s mid-year Policy Briefing, with further information promised “at a later date.”

Nintendo also talked about numbers for the current Switch (PDF), noting that it sold 4.72 million units in the past three months, a drop of 31 percent compared to the same period last year, but well above previous consoles eight years after they launched.

That adds up to 146 million Switch units sold and a new record for software sales on a Nintendo platform, which reached 1.3 billion units as of September 30th, 2024. It also noted that Switch Online subscriptions dropped slightly from last year to about 34 million members. At the same time, the number of people opting for the pricier version with the Expansion Pack library of games continues to increase.

According to the presentation, “More software has been played on Nintendo Switch than on any other Nintendo hardware.”

All three of the major console manufacturers have had spotty records with backward compatibility. Both the Xbox Series X and the PS5 are mostly backward-compatible. But since the transition from the Wii U involved going from discs to cartridges, the Switch is not. Playing a game from previous Nintendo consoles at the moment is a function of optimism, involving the hope that either Nintendo releases a remastered Switch port or brings the game to its Switch Online library, but that won’t be the case this time around..

According to Nintendo, the Switch 2 (or whatever it’s actually called) is still on schedule to be revealed during this fiscal year, which runs until the end of March 2025, without interrupting Nintendo’s existing connection with over 100 million annual Switch players.

The conversation about backward compatibility isn’t just about player satisfaction but also video game preservation. A report from the Video Game History Foundation found that over 87 percent of games released before 2010 are “critically endangered” or unavailable for purchase. While Nintendo has brought some of its back catalog to the Switch, there are still a lot of inaccessible games. Nintendo also directly contributed to the increasing scarcity of older games by shutting down the Wii U / 3DS e-shop last year.

The news comes as Nintendo seemed intent on announcing everything but details on its next console. The last few weeks have included the opening of a museum, a test for a mystery MMO, the reveal of an alarm clock, and the launch of a music streaming app.

Update, November 5th, 2024: Added additional details.