Switch 2 Backwards Compatibility Is Limited, Not Every Game Is Supported

The Switch 2 is coming and it'll be backwards-compatible, meaning it will be able to play Nintendo Switch games. In this post, we're rounding up everything we know, and don't know, about Switch 2's backwards compatibility.

Can you play Switch games on Switch 2?

As part of Nintendo's earnings presentation in early November 2024, president Shuntaro Furukawa confirmed the news, stating, "Nintendo Switch software will also be playable on the successor to Nintendo Switch." The Switch 2 being able to play Switch 1 games was rumored, but Furukawa made it official during the earnings briefing.

The Switch was not compatible with Wii U games, but a number of Wii U games were ported to the Switch. For this next transition, however--from Switch to Switch 2--existing software will be supported.

When the Switch 2 was officially announced on January 16, 2025, Nintendo shared a few more details about backwards compatibility. THe company said the Switch 2 will play its own exclusive games and some Nintendo Switch games, for both physical cartridges and digital games. However, Nintendo warned that certain original Switch games "may not be supported or fully compatible with Nintendo Switch 2." Nintendo said it will announce more specifics at a later date.

Unknowns

Nintendo's announcement of backward compatibility support for Switch 2 was light on details. It is presently unknown how it'll all work. Below are some key unanswered questions.

Are all Switch games backwards compatible?

On January 16, Nintendo confirmed that the backwards compatibility support is limited. Not all original Switch games will play on Switch 2, but Nintendo has yet to provide a list of supported and not supported games. For what it's worth, even within the Switch 1 ecosystem, not all games were universally supported. As an example, the Switch Lite didn't support certain Switch games.

Does Switch 2 improve Switch games?

The Switch 2 is expected to be a more powerful machine than the existing Switch, which launched in 2017 and has sold more than 146 million units to date. But whether or not the Switch 2 will improve original Switch games played on it is unknown. When a system offers backward compatibility, like with PS5 and Xbox Series X|S, it is often the case that games for the older system look and perform better on the newer one with better resolutions and/or frame rates. That's at least something that Nintendo fans would probably hope for with the Switch 2. Games like The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Tears of the Kingdom, and Echoes of Wisdom were highly regarded games, but also had notoriously bad performance in certain spots, and the Switch 2 offering improvements would be very welcome.

We will update this post as more information comes to light.

Switch 2 game store and Nintendo Switch Online

Nintendo also stated that people who buy a Switch 2 "will be able to choose their next purchase from a broad selection of titles released for Nintendo Switch." This seems to suggest that the Switch 2's games store will also include original Switch games.

Beyond all of this, Nintendo said the Switch 2 will support Nintendo Switch Online and your existing Nintendo Account. "We believe that it is important for Nintendo's future to make use of Nintendo Account and carry over the good relationship that we have built with the over 100 million annual playing users on Nintendo Switch to its successor," Furukawa said.

Becoming the norm

There was a time in the video game industry when new console generations represented something of a clean slate, and consumers had to start over and purchase new games for the new device. But those days are becoming a relic of the past, for Nintendo, Microsoft, and Sony.

The Xbox Series X|S supports Xbox One games (and some Xbox 360 and original Xbox games), while the PS5 supports PS4 titles, along with PS3 and PS2 games by way of streaming, and only for a certain selection of titles. It's not backwards-compatibility in the traditional sense of popping your old Xbox or PlayStation disc into the new machine. Instead, this was made possible through the video game industry's push towards digital. Many digital games purchased for one platform carry forward to the next, and now Nintendo--which has also seen dramatic increases in digital game sales--is joining the fold with Switch 2.

That's all we know for now, but with the Nintendo Direct event for the Switch 2 coming up in April, we may learn more soon.