Nintendo has officially positioned the Nintendo Switch 2 as the company’s new foundation for software development and hardware innovation. The announcement came from Shuntaro Furukawa, President of Nintendo, during the company’s Second Quarter Financial Results and Corporate Management Policy Briefing for the fiscal year ending March 2026, which you can read the entirety of here.
During the brief, Furukawa described the Nintendo Switch 2 as “the new standard for Nintendo Switch,” confirming that all future software development will now be centered around the new system. This marks a major generational shift and shows that Nintendo’s long-term creative and business strategies are fully focused on the upgraded hybrid console.
The Switch 2 continues Nintendo’s core philosophy of allowing players to “play anytime, anywhere, with anyone,” but introduces significant advancements that set it apart from its predecessor. One of the biggest new additions is GameChat, a communication feature that lets players talk and see each other through an integrated camera. It’s the first time Nintendo has offered direct video communication between players on one of its systems.
While the overall design looks familiar, Furukawa emphasized that the Switch 2 has been completely re-engineered from the ground up, including the console and its accessories. This new architecture allows for more advanced gameplay experiences that weren’t possible on the original Switch.
Examples mentioned during the briefing included Mario Kart World, which features a single, connected map, and Donkey Kong Bananza, where players can destroy parts of the environment in real time.
This direction makes sense for Nintendo. Unlike other companies that continue to support older platforms for years after launching new ones, Nintendo typically moves to the next platform once the new one has been released. The only real exception was with its handhelds. When the Switch launched in 2017, the Nintendo 3DS continued to run alongside it for several years. It wasn’t until September 2020, three years after the Switch’s release, that Nintendo discontinued the 3DS. Even then, the Wii U and 3DS Nintendo eShop stayed online until March 27, 2023.
This time, however, Nintendo seems determined to bring everyone forward as quickly as possible. According to the same report, 84 percent of current Switch 2 owners have already transitioned from the original Switch. That number shows how smoothly the migration is going and how focused Nintendo is on making the Switch 2 its main platform without delay. And with the Switch 2 surpassing 10.36 million sales global since it was launched on June 5th, 2025, again, this only makes sense.
What’s interesting about this, however, is Nintendo previously stated that it would continue selling the Switch as long as there was a demand. I wonder if this means that the demand is gone or Nintendo has decided that it doesn’t make any sense to support the older platform, due to the success of the Switch 2. With the Switch 2 being the only focus now, does that mean we’ll hear about a discontinuation for the original Switch in the near future?
Looking ahead, Nintendo made it clear that its primary development and business focus will now revolve entirely around the Switch 2, making it the centerpiece of the company’s next generation of hardware, software, and overall ecosystem. With the majority of players already on board, this marks the start of what could be the most ambitious era in Nintendo’s modern history.
Now, about a possible F-Zero game, I’m still waiting here, Nintendo.
