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Last week’s Pokemon Presents was more than a peek at what’s next in the Pokemon franchise. Showcase revealed new details of the Switch game The Legend of Pokemon: ZA and Pokemon Championhowever, it also reached some of the biggest questions about the future of the original Switch, including:
- How will Nintendo move from the most widely owned video game consoles on the market to a new system that requires you to build an installation base from scratch?
- How many games will Nintendo and its closest partners release the original Switch and tens of millions of active players?
- Which big new release will become a generational game?
Nintendo has previously said it is working to provide users with a “smooth transition” from Switch to Switch 2 thanks to the extensive adoption of Nintendo accounts. Depending on how smoothly it goes, the next generation Switch 2 will allow Nintendo account owners to take over their digital libraries, subscriptions and personal information.
Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa also said the company is trying to produce as many two switches as possible for launches to meet consumer demand and deter resellers. The same can be said for the software side. Nintendo is reportedly working on developing a robust launch lineup for the Switch 2 limited edition games.
What remains on the original switch?
Nintendo has just a handful of first-party Switch games on its slate. Metroid Prime 4: Beyond and Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Editionthe latter will decline this month. It is unclear whether the company has substantial Switch 1 over these two titles. There have been enduring rumours that Nintendo is sitting on various legends of Zelda and Metroid Prime Remaster, but Nintendo has not confirmed any additional software for the current console.
In February, Furukawa worked on the state of the Switch lineup until 2025, but his answer to questions about further games in the system from eight years ago was pretty open-ended.
“As a lot of people play Nintendo Switch, if they can develop compelling software, I would like to continue releasing new titles,” Furukawa said in a translated statement. “On the other hand, exclusive gaming is important when launching new hardware. With this in mind, we’ll look at the various ways of Nintendo Switch and Nintendo Switch 2 to encourage as many consumers as possible to enjoy the game.”
We can see that past to see what Nintendo is planning in the future.
When the original Switch was released in 2017, Nintendo, with the exception of the 3DS success and the Wii U failure, more than 65 million 3DS systems failed to make the customer’s hands when the Switch booted. Metroid: Samus is back and Wario Ware Gold.
This was a very different story for the Wii U. With just 13 million of these consoles sold by 2017, Nintendo took a clean break. That’s what the final game released by Wii U was The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the WildIt started up at the same time as the switch version.
The Switch is a momentary hit (and the Wii u essentially died) that in 2017 incentivized Nintendo to fully embrace the next generation.
With over 150 million switch consoles on sale so far, Nintendo can expect to continue to accommodate existing audiences on its platform for at least a while. There are still plenty of Wii U, 3DS, and GameCube-ERA games that allow you to get an upgraded Switch version to keep the system humming along with the “new” Nintendo games.
Nintendo pledges backward compatibility for Switch 2 Switch games, so future games released for the original Switch should be supported by successors.
What’s less clear is Nintendo’s transnational strategy Beyond Backward compatibility. Will the company release a native switch and release something like two versions of the game? Metroid Prime 4 (In previous generation releases Twilight Princess and Wild Breath), or is the Metroid game in development built to play well on the Switch and play better through Switch 2 backward compatibility? The latter seems more likely or at least not complicated for Nintendo.
Nintendo certainly doesn’t want to fall into the trap that console competitors have found themselves in this generation. Sony and Microsoft have a good support for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One in the lifecycle of their successors, resulting in a generation of consoles that have rarely had a “next-generation” gaming experience and never felt like there was a moment.
So don’t expect Nintendo to support the original switch for too long. Its focus clearly appears to be on Switch 2, and a clean break could come soon. There are probably only a handful of Switch games on the horizon, not 2025, but enough to stop Switch 2 on its own.
