Despite selling less than 10,000 units to become the second best-selling console of all time, Nintendo would eventually shift all of its attention from the Nintendo Switch to the Switch 2. However, development updates have shown that change can happen much sooner than most expect.
Nintendo expanded on the quarterly numbers it shared this week with deeper insight into its inner workings with its latest quarterly report. In that report, Nintendo confirmed that future game development will center around the Switch 2.
“Going forward, we will shift our primary development focus to Nintendo Switch 2 and expand our business around this new platform,” the report states. You might look at this and think, “Well, duh.” The Switch 2 is Nintendo's shiny new console. Of course, that will be the focus from now on. It's been around since the day the system launched, maybe even before.
People are making the next leap faster than Nintendo expected.
To some extent that is true. While development continues on the game for the original Switch, the focus will shift somewhat to Switch 2. However, the fact that it's stated this way, and that it's been five months since the Switch 2's release, suggests that Nintendo is already moving away from full-length game development for the Switch 2 entirely.
Of course, that doesn't mean we've already seen the last of the games Nintendo has developed for the Switch. Metroid Prime 4: Beyond is set to release in just a few weeks, and several games have already been announced for release in 2026. These comments mean that from now on, games developed under the Nintendo banner will only be developed for the Switch 2 and will not have cross-gen releases like Metroid Prime 4 and Pokemon Legends: ZA.
It's somewhat surprising that Nintendo would begin the process of leaving the Switch so soon after the release of Switch 2. However, figures this week confirm that Nintendo has already sold more than 10 million Switch 2 consoles by the end of September. Today's more in-depth report also shows that 84% of those 10 million people were people who jumped from the original Switch.
These numbers may have prompted Nintendo to focus solely on developing games for the Switch 2. But this isn't an abrupt gear change based solely on today's commentary. The Switch 2's biggest first-party launch window games, Mario Kart World and Donkey Kong Bananza, were both developed exclusively for the Switch 2. Of course, whatever Nintendo is currently working on will follow this framework, whether it's a new 3D Mario or the next Super Smash Bros.
- brand
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nintendo
- original release date
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June 5, 2025
- Original MSRP (USD)
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$449.99
- operating system
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ownership
- solve
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1080p (portable) / 4K (docked)
- HDR support
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yes
