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The Switch is formally Nintendo’s best-selling sport machine of all time, second solely to Sony’s landmark PlayStation 2 for general gross sales. And the follow-up Switch 2 is off to a very good begin, shifting greater than 17 million items in its first half-year to turn out to be the fastest-selling sport system ever.
But with international element shortages, rising costs and sluggish adoption of the Switch 2 from some main game-makers, Nintendo faces severe challenges in maintaining the momentum up all through 2026.
Announcing the most recent gross sales figures not too long ago, president Shuntaro Furukawa stated the rising value of reminiscence — pushed by the AI growth — wouldn’timmediately have an effect on the Switch 2 value, which is presently $700, however a rise could occur ultimately.
“We do not expect major impact during the fourth quarter of this year. However, from the next fiscal year onward, if this price hike lasts longer than anticipated, it could potentially put pressure on our profitability,” he stated, in response to Bloomberg.
So, what does the corporate have deliberate for 2026 to maintain demand excessive sufficient to counter the headwinds?
Nintendo’s personal choices
With 155 million Switch consoles bought, Nintendo and different sport publishers are eager to proceed promoting video games on the eight-year-old machine. Indie video games and fewer graphically intensive video games specifically proceed to launch for the unique Switch, and in addition work on Switch 2. But slowly and certainly, gamers shall be inspired to improve to the dearer and rather more highly effective new machine.
Nintendo’s strategy with its personal software program is to introduce some video games which can be solely for Switch 2, and a few that work on both console however are considerably higher on the beefier {hardware}, whereas additionally issuing free and paid updates that deliver new Switch 2 options to older video games.
Animal Crossing: New Horizons, which was an enormous driver of gross sales for Nintendo in the course of the COVID lockdowns, obtained an replace not too long ago that bumps the sport’s graphics as much as 4K, makes use of the Switch 2’s mouse-style controls and microphone, and expands the multiplayer options. Next month, a Switch 2 replace for Super Mario Bros. Wonder will add additional characters, modes, ranges and minigames.
The benefit right here is that the improve to Switch 2 will get extra interesting the extra authentic Switch video games an individual has, particularly within the case of video games like Super Mario Odyssey the place the enhancements are free. But it additionally means some video games getting dearer; in the event you don’t have already got Mario Bros. Wonder and wish to purchase it with the Switch 2 content material included, it can value $110.
At a current occasion at Nintendo’s Melbourne headquarters I used to be in a position to play early variations of some new and upcoming video games. Mario Tennis Fever is unique to Switch 2, and it turns tennis into a celebration sport akin to Mario Kart or Super Smash Bros, with highly effective racquet results and bizarre non-compulsory guidelines on sure courts giving gamers heaps to maintain monitor of.
On the opposite hand, Pokémon Pokopia is clearly aiming for the broadest attainable viewers and is coming to each Switch and Switch 2. Co-developed by The Pokémon Company, Game Freak and Koei Tecmo, it blends the gathering of Pokémon and the social nature of Animal Crossing with the constructing recipes of Minecraft, however with the addition of some story components to observe. Players take the function of a shape-shifting Ditto which has chosen the type of a human, and work to make a barren world liveable for a variety of pleasant creatures. It’s surprisingly engrossing, and will grow to be one of many yr’s sleeper hits.
Later within the yr Nintendo is planning to launch all-ages platformer Yoshi and the Mysterious Book, anime ways RPG Fire Emblem: Fortune’s Weave, and multiplayer motion journey The Duskbloods, from the developer of Dark Souls and Elden Ring From Software. The three are unique to Switch 2. The firm usually additionally proclaims new video games earlier than mid-year.
The wider ecosystem
As improvement of big-budget video games has moved to extra succesful {hardware}, together with the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X, fewer have been launched on the low-powered authentic Switch. The additional grunt of the Switch 2 might doubtlessly appropriate that, however many main studios are but to announce their blockbuster video games for the moveable system. Some analysts level to studies that Nintendo was unable to furnish many studios with Switch 2 {hardware} forward of its launch.
Major third-party video games deliberate for, or not too long ago launched on, Switch 2
- Square Enix’s Final Fantasy VII Remake, with sequel Rebirth coming in June.
- Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed: Shadows and Star Wars Outlaws.
- Microsoft’s South of Midnight, Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, Fallout 4 Anniversary Edition and Oblivion Remastered, all due this yr.
- Anticipated James Bond sport 007 First Light, Sega’s Yakuza Kiwami 3, and Capcom’s Resident Evil Requiem will all launch on Switch 2 similtaneously different platforms within the coming months.
- Resident Evil 7 and Village are arriving together with Requiem.
- EA and 2K’s licensed sports activities video games are supported on the system.
- Cyberpunk 2077 and Street Fighter 6 have been included on the system’s launch.
- Elden Ring is because of arrive this yr.
At the occasion I used to be in a position to preview a pair of upcoming Capcom video games; Resident Evil Requiem and Pragmata. These are video games that may by no means have been in a position to run on the unique Switch, however on Switch 2 they really feel nice and are visually spectacular. If you had this model of Resident Evil side-by-side with a PlayStation 5 Pro operating it at 4K and 60 frames per second with ray tracing, you’d instantly spot that the Switch 2 isn’t hitting the identical decision, efficiency or settings. But then a Switch 2 is sort of half the worth, and has the benefit of moveable play. Both video games seemed superior on the small handheld display screen.
So the problem presently isn’t that the console is underpowered, however eager avid gamers nonetheless can’t be assured the titles they’re excited for on PC and consoles will come to Switch 2, purely as a result of it could be an additional elevate for studios that plan their releases years prematurely. It’s a catch-22, however extra gamers could should put money into Switch 2 earlier than the studios take into account it price their whereas.
Meanwhile, Nintendo continues to develop its model in all instructions, exterior new launch video games. A second Super Mario film hits cinemas this yr, with a dwell motion Legend of Zelda presently filming. The Pikmin Bloom smartphone app, a tackle Pokémon GO which inspires customers to discover by strolling, goes sturdy after 5 years. And the corporate runs a subscription on Switch and Switch 2 that offers households entry to basic video games initially revealed within the ’80s, ’90s and 2000s.
The newest console added to this assortment, the Virtual Boy, is notable as a result of it was initially a monetary catastrophe. The heavy and headache-inducing 1995 VR headset bought lower than one million items, had 22 video games revealed for it and was pulled from cabinets inside a yr, with Nintendo all however refusing to acknowledge it till not too long ago. Next week, subscribers will have the ability to play video games from the worst-selling Nintendo system ever on the best-selling, with Virtual Boy on Switch and Switch 2.
In my transient testing of the system, which requires a sold-separately viewer you slide your console into (Nintendo is promoting each a $140 reproduction of the unique headset and a $30 cardboard model), I used to be stunned to search out the video games nonetheless really feel novel and fascinating. They’re monochrome, however the 3D visuals work. Smart filters and show choices make them comfy to have a look at, and it’s all a reminder of what’s modified and what’s stayed the identical previously 30 years.
If half a per cent of the Switch and Switch 2 viewers get a brand new Virtual Boy, it can have reached extra gamers than the unique did again within the day.
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Tim Biggs is a author protecting client expertise, devices and video video games.Connect by way of X or e-mail.From our companions
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