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About a third of the Switch library can be launched but is still being tested.
The Nintendo Switch 2. Credit: Nintendo
Nintendo's Switch 2 has a small handful of new releases in its launch lineup, but for the first few months after its release, the main thing you'll be able to play on it will be your existing library of Switch games. And while Nintendo has promised reasonably comprehensive backward compatibility, the company is still working through the process of testing over 15,000 third-party Switch games with the new console.
With a week to go until launch, Nintendo has updated its compatibility support page with the results of nearly two months of extra testing. Of the "over 15,000" third-party Switch games, Nintendo says roughly two-thirds of them either have "no issues" or have problems that will be resolved quickly at or after launch. On the original version of this support page, Nintendo had only performed its basic compatibility testing on roughly 20 percent of all third-party Switch games.
Nintendo says that nearly all of the roughly 5,000 remaining Switch games will launch just fine on the Switch 2 but that "further tests" are "in progress." The support page doesn't say when Nintendo will provide its next update.
Nintendo has also updated PDF documents listing individual games that won't launch, games that start up but have some other kind of compatibility problem, and games with problems that should be "addressed by launch or shortly after."
Nearly all of the 122 first-party Nintendo games will run fine on the Switch 2, with the only exceptions being the Nintendo Labo cardboard kits that were made with the physical dimensions of the original Switch in mind. Additionally, some games that use features of the original Switch Joy-Cons will only work if you pair an external Joy-Con with the Switch 2.
Aside from the paid Switch 2 upgrade packs that add extra content and graphical improvements, Nintendo is releasing several free Switch game updates to add a handful of Switch 2-specific features and improve performance on the new console. Third-party game developers will presumably be able to release these kinds of updates as well.
Nintendo's late-May update on Switch game compatibility. Credit: Nintendo
Nintendo has said that it is using a solution "that's somewhere in between a software emulator and hardware compatibility" to get original Switch games running on the Switch 2, which is why compatibility testing is necessary. Though this has been reported by some outlets as "emulation," it appears that Nintendo is actually using some kind of code translation to allow Switch games to run on Switch 2 hardware, sort of like what Valve uses to make Windows PC games run on the Steam Deck's Linux-based operating system. This would avoid the performance overhead of a true software emulator, while allowing most Switch software to run without requiring additional effort from the game's developer.
Goodbye to non-games?
Aside from games, it seems like Nintendo is closing the door on what few video-streaming and non-game media apps will run on the Switch 2. Nintendo says that the Hulu, Crunchyroll, InkyPen, Abema, and Niconico apps from the original Switch "cannot be used on Nintendo Switch 2," which seems to close the door on any kind of Switch 2-compatible software update for these apps.
Nintendo has never really positioned the Switch as a living room multimedia device in the same way that Sony and Microsoft have with the PlayStation and Xbox. Most TVs that have a Switch connected to them will also either be able to access these services natively through built-in apps or be connected to some other kind of external device that supports them (either a cable box, another console, or a streaming box like a Roku or Apple TV). But it's still unusual for a tablet-like device in 2025 to totally lack support for this category of media-streaming app.
The Nintendo Switch 2. Credit: Nintendo
Nintendo's Switch 2 has a small handful of new releases in its launch lineup, but for the first few months after its release, the main thing you'll be able to play on it will be your existing library of Switch games. And while Nintendo has promised reasonably comprehensive backward compatibility, the company is still working through the process of testing over 15,000 third-party Switch games with the new console.
With a week to go until launch, Nintendo has updated its compatibility support page with the results of nearly two months of extra testing. Of the "over 15,000" third-party Switch games, Nintendo says roughly two-thirds of them either have "no issues" or have problems that will be resolved quickly at or after launch. On the original version of this support page, Nintendo had only performed its basic compatibility testing on roughly 20 percent of all third-party Switch games.
Nintendo says that nearly all of the roughly 5,000 remaining Switch games will launch just fine on the Switch 2 but that "further tests" are "in progress." The support page doesn't say when Nintendo will provide its next update.
Nintendo has also updated PDF documents listing individual games that won't launch, games that start up but have some other kind of compatibility problem, and games with problems that should be "addressed by launch or shortly after."
Nearly all of the 122 first-party Nintendo games will run fine on the Switch 2, with the only exceptions being the Nintendo Labo cardboard kits that were made with the physical dimensions of the original Switch in mind. Additionally, some games that use features of the original Switch Joy-Cons will only work if you pair an external Joy-Con with the Switch 2.
Aside from the paid Switch 2 upgrade packs that add extra content and graphical improvements, Nintendo is releasing several free Switch game updates to add a handful of Switch 2-specific features and improve performance on the new console. Third-party game developers will presumably be able to release these kinds of updates as well.
Nintendo's late-May update on Switch game compatibility. Credit: Nintendo
Nintendo has said that it is using a solution "that's somewhere in between a software emulator and hardware compatibility" to get original Switch games running on the Switch 2, which is why compatibility testing is necessary. Though this has been reported by some outlets as "emulation," it appears that Nintendo is actually using some kind of code translation to allow Switch games to run on Switch 2 hardware, sort of like what Valve uses to make Windows PC games run on the Steam Deck's Linux-based operating system. This would avoid the performance overhead of a true software emulator, while allowing most Switch software to run without requiring additional effort from the game's developer.
Goodbye to non-games?
Aside from games, it seems like Nintendo is closing the door on what few video-streaming and non-game media apps will run on the Switch 2. Nintendo says that the Hulu, Crunchyroll, InkyPen, Abema, and Niconico apps from the original Switch "cannot be used on Nintendo Switch 2," which seems to close the door on any kind of Switch 2-compatible software update for these apps.
Nintendo has never really positioned the Switch as a living room multimedia device in the same way that Sony and Microsoft have with the PlayStation and Xbox. Most TVs that have a Switch connected to them will also either be able to access these services natively through built-in apps or be connected to some other kind of external device that supports them (either a cable box, another console, or a streaming box like a Roku or Apple TV). But it's still unusual for a tablet-like device in 2025 to totally lack support for this category of media-streaming app.
