Don't expect support for the Nintendo Switch to drop as the Switch 2's successor enters its second year of release. In a recent earnings call, Nintendo CEO Shuntaro Furukawa reaffirmed the company's commitment to its aging flagship for the foreseeable future.
But it might not be that bad for us Switch 2 adopters either. After all, we've already seen several high-profile Switch 2 exclusives, so it's not like Nintendo is holding back any possible horsepower just because of the OG. In that sense, it makes a lot of sense to continue support for people who can't afford a Switch 2 yet, or who want to hold off on making a big purchase until they have more software they like.
Intergenerational… to some extent
The English Q&A transcript confirms what we shared earlier that Nintendo is gearing up for a long intergenerational preparation period. […] Expand the entire software business […] Rather than focusing only on [NS2] “Software.” “About 40%. [Tomodachi] Player is a Nintendo Switch 2 owner.” 1/ — Nintendo Patents Watch (@ninpatentswatch.bsky.social) 2026-05-13T19:27:32.813Z
As Nintendo Patents Watch helpfully tweeted, Furukawa and the rest of the company are primed and ready to take a generational step that could last for years to come. Furukawa's note emphasized the importance of “expanding the entire software business” rather than simply sticking to the Nintendo Switch 2, noting that 40% of Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream players were using the latest system, with six in 10 players using the best-selling release on the hardware in 2017.
This means that there are a ton of Nintendo Switch systems on the market compared to their initial successor consoles. To be exact, there are over 155 million of them. (Except it's broken, I guess.) Everyone's making a big fuss about the recent price hikes across the Nintendo ecosystem, and understandably, one angle is pointing out that it's relatively unlikely that the Switch will ever nudge past the Sony PlayStation 2 as the best-selling console of all time. True or not, the point is that every city block has a switch.
The goal is to “encourage people to transition to Nintendo Switch 2 at their own pace.” So of course they still want you all to own a shiny NS2 in time. And this won't be the same as the Sony or Xbox intergenerational era. We're seeing a ton of things coming to both PS4 and PS5, or Xbox One and Xbox Series, but the Switch 2 alone has already had some huge hits, including Mario Kart World, Donkey Kong Bananza, and Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment. Not to mention ports that aren't possible on Switch 1, like Final Fantasy 7 Remake and the upcoming Rebirth.
For whatever reason, Xbox is now XBOX.
If you're confused, don't worry. So do we.
