Nintendo Switch 2 will reportedly have digital and physical backward compatibility, plus “enhanced” older games

The Nintendo Switch successor will reportedly feature backward compatibility for physical and digital game copies.

The report comes from Brazilian website Universo Nintendo, which in the past has correctly published information about a number of Nintendo Direct presentations and the official title of Sonic X Shadow Generations ahead of its reveal. (Thanks for the spot, Eurogamer.)

Twitter account Centro Leaks shared a translated version of the details across social media, which claims that original Nintendo Switch games will be playable on the company’s next console, whether you own them on a cartridge or via the eShop.

Developers can also supposedly “enhance” games released on the OG Nintendo Switch to take advantage of the Switch 2’s extra processing power. That lines up with previous reports that Nintendo was showing a “souped-up” version of The Legend Of Zelda: Breath Of The Wild running on the new hardware.

The Nintendo Switch 2 – or whatever it ends up being called – has been at the center of a rumor whirlwind these last few months. One industry survey revealed that 8% of game developers were already working on titles for the Switch successor. Another analyst claimed that the console would release this year with an 8-inch LCD screen, as opposed to the OG Switch’s OLED display. 

We won’t know for certain until the Big N decides to dish out details, but with so much gossip making the rounds, it’s clear that the company is planning something substantial. If 2024 is the Nintendo Switch’s final year as the company’s main priority, then it’s shaping up to go out with a mild bang between the releases of a Paper Mario remake, a Princess Peach solo adventure, and many other upcoming Switch games. 

Weekly digests, tales from the communities you love, and more