As US states were busy counting votes to confirm who would be the next president Tuesday night, Nintendo’s Japanese Twitter account was busy confirming a key backward-compatibility feature for the upcoming “Nintendo Switch successor,” which is still only pre-announced, officially.
“At today’s Corporate Management Policy Briefing, we announced that Nintendo Switch software will also be playable on the successor to Nintendo Switch,” Nintendo posted in a social media update attributed to company President Shintaro Furukawa. “Nintendo Switch Online will be available on the successor to Nintendo Switch as well.”
This is Furukawa. At today’s Corporate Management Policy Briefing, we announced that Nintendo Switch software will also be playable on the successor to Nintendo Switch. Nintendo Switch Online will be available on the successor to Nintendo Switch as well. Further information about…
— 任天堂株式会社（企業広報・IR） (@NintendoCoLtd) November 6, 2024
In the full policy briefing referenced in that post, Nintendo adds that it “believe[s] that it is important for Nintendo’s future to make use of Nintendo Account and carry over the good relationship that we have built with the over 100 million annual playing users on Nintendo Switch to its successor.” The company also makes the (perhaps obvious) clarification that “in addition to being able to play Nintendo Switch software they currently own, consumers will be able to choose their next purchase from a broad selection of titles released for Nintendo Switch [on its successor].”
A crucial feature
Nintendo offered broad, vague hints on its next console’s backward compatibility well over a year ago, saying at the time that “as for the transition from Nintendo Switch to the next-generation machine, we want to do as much as possible in order to smoothly transition our customers, while utilizing the Nintendo Account.” In recent months, we’ve gotten multiple reports that this kind of backward compatibility was already in the works via supply chain and game development sources.
