Nintendo Switch 2 is officially confirmed to be backwards compatible

Nintendo has revealed that the Nintendo Switch 2 console will be backward compatible with existing Nintendo Switch software. Following their latest financial briefing, company President Shuntaro Furukawa took to social media to confirm this vital aspect. To top it off, Nintendo Switch Online as a service was also confirmed to be available on the upcoming tech.

While the rumor mill has touched upon this aspect many times before, it is great to hear it from the horse's mouth. Here are the full details.

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Nintendo Switch 2 will have both backward compatibility and Nintendo Switch Online

While the extent of this backward compatibility is yet to be revealed, it is still good news nonetheless — and one that isn't all too surprising. Even without rumors, it was very much a given that the next-gen Switch successor would be able to play the games from the existing one. After all, Nintendo has always supported this in the past.

Examples include Nintendo DS compatibility on the 3DS or Wii games being playable on the Wii U. Looking at past trends and what we already know about the Nintendo Switch 2 concerning its hardware, it is a safe guess that all Nintendo Switch games will be playable. On top of this, there is Nintendo Switch Online, or as it is more popularly known, NSO.

This is Nintendo's online infrastructure which also follows a subscription model to allow online multiplayer gaming across many premium titles for players. Since this feature is also making the jump to the next-gen hardware, fans will likely be able to carry over their existing profiles, purchases, and more to the next system. That said, official details will arrive at a later date as per Furukawa.

The publisher does not intend to release the console before the end of this fiscal year, which ends on March 31, 2025. So, fans will need to be a little more patient.