Nintendo Switch 2 has been on the market for almost a year, but Nintendo is not ready to abandon the original Switch and its user base of more than 140 million people. Company president Shuntaro Furukawa has made it clear during an investor Q&A that Nintendo’s first-party strategy will not focus entirely on Switch 2 exclusives. Instead, the company wants players to move to the new console at their own pace.

When a new console launches, many players assume that the company behind it will quickly stop supporting the previous generation. In practice, that rarely happens so abruptly, and Nintendo Switch 2 will not be an exception. The original Switch set a record for the longest gap between console releases, and Nintendo knows that more than 140 million existing users cannot simply be left behind overnight. Almost a year has passed since the launch of Switch 2, but the company has now made its position clear: it does not want to force the transition too aggressively.

Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa addressed investor questions about the Switch 2 release schedule and the state of the original Switch catalog. “I think it’s important that we consider how to expand the entire software business, including titles for both the Nintendo Switch and Nintendo Switch 2,” Furukawa said. The company’s reasoning is supported by the performance of Tomodachi Life: A Dream Life, which has surpassed 3.8 million sales, with 60% of those players buying the original Switch version. That alone is a strong sign that the older console’s audience remains highly active, and that it cannot be treated as a thing of the past from a business perspective.

Furukawa also told shareholders that Nintendo has more announcements planned for the second half of 2026. “We are working on a variety of new titles for Nintendo Switch 2, and not just the so-called main titles. For this second half of the year, we are preparing new titles in addition to those we have already announced,” he said. That confirms that the new hardware is naturally still a major focus, but it also suggests that the company does not intend to lock its entire first-party software strategy exclusively around Switch 2.

Nintendo Will Continue To Support Switch

According to Furukawa, it would be ideal to release many new titles at regular intervals, but software development now takes longer than it used to. That reality alone encourages a more careful approach, especially when the company has to build the future of Switch 2 while still serving the huge installed base of the original Switch. “I think it’s important that we consider how to expand the entire software business, including titles for both Nintendo Switch and Nintendo Switch 2, rather than focusing solely on Nintendo Switch 2 software sales,” he added.

The Nintendo president then stated the strategy even more clearly: “It’s important to expand the entire software business instead of focusing solely on Nintendo Switch 2 software. We want to encourage people to migrate to Nintendo Switch 2 at their own pace.” That is especially relevant for anyone who has not yet bought the new console, because Furukawa’s words suggest that Nintendo does not want to shut the door on the original Switch immediately. The company’s next known first-party games include Yoshi and the Mysterious Book on May 21, Star Fox on June 25, and Splatoon Raiders on July 23. All three are Switch 2 exclusives, but the president’s statement indicates that the original Switch may continue receiving first-party support for some time.

In practical terms, that means players who have waited before buying a Switch 2 may not have made a bad decision. Nintendo is not communicating as if every important first-party game will immediately move to the new hardware, and the success of Tomodachi Life: A Dream Life shows that the original Switch still has serious commercial strength. Switch 2 is clearly the future platform, but based on Nintendo’s current message, the transition looks more gradual than abrupt.

Source: 3DJuegos