Nintendo Confirms Switch Games Will Be Playable on its Next Console

As Nintendo is expected to announce the successor to the Nintendo Switch before the end of its fiscal year in March 2025, the company confirmed today that Switch games will be playable on its next console. That should be good news for owners of the 3rd best-selling console of all time, with over 146 million units sold since its launch in 2017.

“At today’s Corporate Management Policy Briefing, we announced that Nintendo Switch software will also be playable on the successor to Nintendo Switch,” said Nintendo President Shuntaro Furukawa today. “Nintendo Switch Online will be available on the successor to Nintendo Switch as well. Further information about the successor to Nintendo Switch, including its compatibility with Nintendo Switch, will be announced at a later date,” the exec added.

This is Furukawa. At today's Corporate Management Policy Briefing, we announced that Nintendo Switch software will also be playable on the successor to Nintendo Switch. Nintendo Switch Online will be available on the successor to Nintendo Switch as well. Further information about…

— 任天堂株式会社（企業広報・IR） (@NintendoCoLtd) November 6, 2024

While Nintendo’s Wii U console released in 2012 was backwards compatible with almost all Wii games and accessories, the Nintendo Switch didn’t offer the same type of support for previous-gen games. Instead, Nintendo chose to make a limited library of NES, Super NES, Game Boy, Sega Genenis, and Nintendo 64 games available for Nintendo Switch Online subscribers.

According to Nintendo’s financial data, over 1.3 billion Nintendo Switch games have been sold since the console launched seven years ago. Furukawa’s backwards compatibility announcement didn’t specify if the successor to the Nintendo Switch will be able to play both physical and digital Switch games, but it would be surprising to see Nintendo move away from the console’s physical game cards system.

Even though Switch sales are now slowing down, the portable console may still end up as the best-selling console of all time. The company said in its latest earnings report that it expects Switch sales to cross over 158 million units by the end of March, which would beat Nintendo DS lifetime sales (154.02 million units) and PlayStation 2 sales (over 155 million units).