Nintendo President Shuntaro Furukawa announced on Wednesday that software for the company’s Switch console would be compatible with its successor device. The Kyoto-based gaming giant has confirmed plans to reveal details about the successor during the financial year ending in March 2025 but has remained tight-lipped about further specifications.
“We decided it would be optimal for customers to be able to play their Switch software on the successor model,” Furukawa explained. “Nintendo Switch is currently being played with by many customers, and we want them to enjoy the games they own and choose their next title from the existing lineup of games,” he added during a management policy briefing.
Offering backward compatibility is expected to ease the transition for consumers to the new device while maintaining the appeal of existing software. This move could also help encourage more users to upgrade to the successor model, which will feature a more extensive game library.
Since its launch, the Nintendo Switch has sold more than 1.3 billion software units, maintaining strong sales even after eight years on the market. The hybrid device has an install base of more than 145 million units, aided by a range of hit games and regular hardware refreshes, which have helped extend its lifecycle.
However, hardware sales have recently begun to slow, with Nintendo reducing its full-year sales forecast for the Switch by 7% to 12.5 million units. This adjustment comes ahead of the critical year-end shopping season.
Jefferies analyst Atul Goyal noted in a client report that the decline in hardware sales was expected, considering the saturation of Nintendo’s target markets in most regions. “We are not surprised by the miss on the (hardware) side,” he said. However, Goyal pointed out that software sales showed positive growth, with 39.6 million software units sold in the second quarter ending in September, reflecting a 29% increase from the previous quarter. Software sales are projected to continue this upward trend in the third quarter.
Following these announcements, Nintendo’s shares saw a 5% increase in Tokyo, outpacing a 2% rise in the benchmark index.
