Nintendo Plans Software Compatibility for Next Console

By Sam Nussey

TOKYO (Reuters) – Nintendo President Shuntaro Furukawa announced on Wednesday that software for the company's Switch console will also be playable on its successor device.

The Kyoto-based gaming company plans to announce the successor during the financial year ending March 2025, but has not provided further details.

"Nintendo Switch is currently being played by many customers, so we decided it would be optimal for them to play their Switch software on the successor model," Furukawa stated.

"Customers will enjoy the games they own and choose their next title from the existing lineup," he added during a management policy briefing.

Offering backward compatibility is expected to encourage consumers to transition to the new device and boost the appeal of current software.

Nintendo has sold over 1.3 billion software units for the Switch, which is in its eighth year and has an install base of over 145 million units.

Despite successes in extending the Switch's lifecycle through popular games and hardware refreshes, hardware sales are declining. On Tuesday, Nintendo reduced its full-year sales forecast for the Switch by 7% to 12.5 million units ahead of the critical year-end shopping season.

Analyst Atul Goyal from Jefferies noted that he wasn't surprised by the decline in hardware sales, as Nintendo's target markets seem saturated in most areas. He mentioned software sales picked up in the second quarter and are expected to continue increasing.

In the second quarter ending September, Nintendo sold 39.6 million software units, a 29% increase from the previous quarter. Following this news, the company's shares rose 5% in Tokyo, in contrast to a 2% rise in the benchmark index.