Nintendo Suggests There Will Be Enhanced Switch 2 Versions Of Some Switch Games

In nan mini people of an explainer astir its caller Virtual Game Card strategy for integer purchases, Nintendo appeared to corroborate that immoderate Switch games will get enhanced versions for Switch 2 — aliases astatine immoderate rate, versions autochthonal to nan Switch 2 console.

A footnote to nan article reads, “Nintendo Switch 2 exclusive games and Nintendo Switch 2 Edition games tin only beryllium loaded connected a Nintendo Switch 2 system.” The statement besides implies that nan Switch 2 will usage nan Virtual Game Card strategy arsenic well, and will beryllium capable to speech Switch 1 games pinch an original Switch.

The Switch 2 is confirmed to beryllium afloat backward compatible pinch its predecessor’s software, truthful it will beryllium capable to play (almost) immoderate Switch crippled regardless. But Nintendo’s mention of “Switch 2 Edition games,” arsenic opposed to “Switch 2 exclusive games,” suggests that immoderate Switch games will get cross-gen versions that tally natively connected Switch 2 alternatively than done nan backward-compatibility layer.

This opens nan doorway to enhanced versions of back-catalog titles, specified arsenic The Legend of Zelda: Breath of nan Wild, arsenic good arsenic upcoming Switch releases for illustration Metroid Prime 4: Beyond. It’s an expected move that has been made commonplace by nan latest generations of PlayStation and Xbox consoles. But it’s still nan first denotation from Nintendo that it will spell down this way for cross-gen releases.

It remains to beryllium seen whether Nintendo will complaint other for Switch 2 Edition games. Sony did truthful for immoderate PlayStation 5 upgrades of PlayStation 4 titles, while Microsoft elected to connection what it called Xbox Series X Enhanced versions of Xbox One games for free.

How nan Switch 2 handles backward compatibility, and immoderate imaginable capacity enhancements for older games, is 1 of nan bigger questions astir nan strategy up of its full uncover connected April 2. This good people answers 1 of our questions astir it, but galore much remain.