The Nintendo Switch 2 Is Officially Almost Fully Backward Compatible

The Nintendo Switch 2 has just been officially revealed, and its announcement mercifully officially confirmed the rumors that it would be mostly fully backward compatible with Nintendo Switch 1 games. Thank goodness.

A screen near the end of the trailer reads: “Plays Nintendo Switch 2 exclusive games, as well as Nintendo Switch games.” It’s followed by an asterisk: “Nintendo Switch 2 plays both physical and digital Nintendo Switch games. Certain Nintendo Switch games may not be supported on or fully compatible with Nintendo Switch 2. Details wil lbe shared on the Nintendo website at a later date.”

What this sounds like this means is that the Nintendo Switch 2 is in fact going to be fully backward compatible, but with the caveat that a handful of games might not work on it for various technical reasons. Given that the Nintendo Switch 2 looks so far to be a larger, more powerful Switch 1, it’s not exactly clear what circumstances would stop something from being playable on it if it worked on Switch 2, but hopefully this doesn’t apply to that many games.

Personally, I’m a little concerned about Ring Fit Adventure, given that the Joy-Cons would need to fit into the accessories such as the Ring-Con and leg strap, but that’s about the only one I can think of this would apply to. But for now, we can probably rest assured that most games are going to be fine, including the physical ones.

We’re still dissecting everything we saw this morning, so check out our breakdowns of the Nintendo Switch 2 announcement, what looks like a brand new Mario Kart game, and everything else about the new console here at IGN.

Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. You can find her posting on BlueSky @duckvalentine.bsky.social. Got a story tip? Send it to rvalentine@ign.com.