Nintendo Switch 2

Lore & Background

Nintendo began pre-production of its next console shortly after the Switch's release, with a team reviewing the performance limitations of the Switch and identifying what hardware changes could be made to address them. Formal development of the Switch 2 started in 2019, led by producer Kouichi Kawamoto, hardware director Takuhiro Dohta, and technical director Tetsuya Sasaki. Though past Nintendo consoles have generally featured a new type of hardware experience, the Switch 2 team found that developers had adapted to writing their games toward the Switch mode and decided it would not be helpful to introduce significant hardware changes, and instead focus on computation performance improvements. Hardware components were selected to balance performance and battery life along with expanding the memory to support newer games.

The new Joy-Con controllers were redesigned from the ground up. With the larger screen on the console, simply scaling the older Joy-Con to match size was not sufficient, so Nintendo included more rounding-off of the corners and extended the shoulder buttons further towards the side of the controller. Rather than the rail system used on the original Switch, the new Joy-Con are connected using magnetic connections. Nintendo had originally explored magnetic connections for the first Switch model but the connection was determined to be too wobbly. With the Joy-Con 2, they refined the magnetic approach, making the connection stronger and easily removed with a mechanical release system. The capability of the Joy-Con to be used as computer mice was an idea introduced by Kawamoto.

The GameChat feature, which allows players to chat and to share screens and webcams, is a result of Nintendo developers' own frustration with existing tools they had to use in game development during the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic shutdowns. The GameChat feature was developed to minimize the use of system resources that would take away from game performance, and some functionality is based on the same streaming service Wii U Chat that was developed for the Wii U and Wii U GamePad.

Reader's Guide

The Nintendo Switch 2 represents a significant evolution of the hybrid console concept introduced by its predecessor. By retaining the core handheld, tabletop, and docked configurations while focusing on computational performance improvements, Nintendo aimed to give developers more tools without introducing disruptive hardware changes. Backward compatibility was a key design priority, implemented through a hybrid of software and hardware emulation to avoid a more taxing software-only solution. The system received praise for its social and technical improvements over its predecessor, though the increased prices of both the console and its games library were criticized. Its rapid sales—over 3.5 million units in four days and over 23 million by June 2026—established it as the fastest-selling Nintendo console. The bundled launch title Mario Kart World became its best-selling game with over 15 million copies sold. The Switch 2 retains the Nintendo Switch Online subscription service, which is required for some multiplayer games and provides access to the Nintendo Classics library of older emulated games; GameCube games are exclusive to the Switch 2. Select Switch games can use the improved Switch 2 performance through either free or paid updates.

Did You Know?

• The Switch 2 was codenamed 'Ounce' during development.
• The Joy-Con 2 controllers connect magnetically and can be used as computer mice.
• GameCube games are exclusive to the Nintendo Classics library on Switch 2.
• The system sold over 3.5 million units in its first four days, making it Nintendo's fastest-selling console.