Nintendo has confirmed that its Switch successor will be compatible with Switch games.
Company president Shuntaro Furukawa shared the news this morning. Writing on social media platform X, Furukawa said:
“At today’s Corporate Governance Policy Briefing, we announced that Nintendo Switch software will also be playable on the successor to Nintendo Switch.”
In addition, Furukawa confirmed that Nintendo Switch Online will be available on the company’s next console, which for now has been baptized ‘Switch 2’. According to Nintendo, there are more than 34 million Switch Online members as of September 30, 2024.
While Furukawa didn’t specifically mention issues like cartridges, the executive said more information about the Switch successor will be shared at “a later date.”
The CEO of Japanese gaming industry consultancy Kantan Games, Serkan Toto, noted that Nintendo stock saw a boost following confirmation of backwards compatibility for the Switch 2. It closed up +5.80 per share. cent at 3:30 pm Japan time on Wednesday, the industry analyst said.
“Investors believe this is a sign that Nintendo’s next device will not be a risky experiment but rather a continuation,” Toto wrote in X.
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Elsewhere in its corporate governance policy report, Nintendo highlighted several upcoming Switch games set to release in 2025. These include Pokémon Legends ZA, for which we have yet to see gameplay, leading many to assume that this one too could be a launch title for Switch 2. Metroid Prime 4 is also on Nintendo’s slate for next year.
The company said that more than 100 million people around the world play the Nintendo Switch, and that number covers all age ranges, from children to seniors. He added that “more software has been played on Nintendo Switch than on any other Nintendo hardware.”
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Following confirmation of its existence in May, Nintendo will officially announce its next console at the end of March 2025. However, it is unlikely to reveal anything this calendar year, analysts say.
Nintendo recently revised downward its expectations for total sales of Switch consoles and games. As Tom reported yesterday, Switch hardware sales fell 31 percent year over year for the three months ending September 30. The company has now lowered its total Switch sales forecast for the financial year to 12.5 million, down from the 13.5 million it previously expected.
The most recent figures indicate that Nintendo Switch has a total of 146.04 million units sold.
