Nintendo Updates Switch 2 Backwards Compatibility List

All getting nicely sorted. Am sure we will see plenty of patches early on!!

Not long now! Keep up the great work @nintendolife

Will ACNH get update for Switch 2 so it will running on 60 fps?

I'm trying to if games will naturally perform better on Switch 2 without an actual enhancement patch.

For example is Doom Eternal going to run better on Switch 2 even though there's no patch that is designed to boost visuals and framerate.

No Crunchyroll?! Dagnammit! Would have enjoyed the bigger screen for handheld viewing.

Love that render, it looks so polished!
Anyway, on the subject of the article, I wonder why there are so many games with incompatibilities. I would have thought that Switch 2 was pretty similar to Switch 1 software-wise, but maybe they changed the software stack or the operating system interface a lot.

@Krull gaming console first... there are a million of other devices to view that stuff on.

“Panned fixes”? Look I know they ain’t out yet, but do y’all have to give them negative marks already?! 🤣

I don't know if I should be more relieved that the set of untested games has been significantly reduced or more concerned that supposedly "compatible" games have been deemed so after a "basic compatibility test". Only 8 days to go until release.

Am I being pessimistic or doesn't this not bode well? Wouldn't a Switch game ideally not have to be modified by the dev to properly run on the Switch 2? This would mean that many games with issues will never be fixed, whether it's because the devs who originally worked on the game aren't there anymore, or because the company feels that the game does not properly represent them anymore like with Senran Kagura and Marvelous. Hopefully it's just my pessimism...

@SpacedDuck
Not in this case these are simply backwards compatibility patches not performance patches. Those would come from the devs but there’s a good chance they do optimize a lot of these titles especially if devs can make $ off the upgrade patches

Immediately checked to see if they're patching Process of Elimination and they are. Very pleased to hear it, love that game so much.

Switch 2 should have the YouTube app then. Good! I use it pretty much every day on Switch 1.

Oof Harvestella. Compatibility issue isn't that big as it seems but I hope it gets fixed soon

i would be more interested to see the third party list, mainly because of the maybe 2% of the orange section

@SpacedDuck If the game has an unstable framerate it should be fixed on Switch 2 due to the increase in sheer power without a patch. Games with variable resolutions should get a boost I think too.

Games aren't going to jump from 30fps to 60fps though if they're locked at 30fps unless they're patched to have uncapped framerate or framerate increase.

Nintendo themselves spoke about Switch games running better on Switch 2 (without patches) in the Ask The Developers interview.

Also, a lot of Arcade Archives games seem to have issues

hundreds of games have issues with switch 2 compatibility how is this even possible a week before launch?

When it comes to Switch 2 performance improvements without dedicated patches I'm mostly hoping it'll help the issues with the Danganronpa games. Which I imagine it will since the same versions run just fine on the Series S.

When I get my Switch 2, I'm gonna see exactly what they mean by "games with start up issues". I have a few of them. I want to know if they mean the game literally doesn't start up? Like if I put my Tokyo Xanadu cartridge in my Switch 2, will it just fail to launch the software entirely?

@johnedwin Because it's partially emulating the software instead of being able to natively run it. That's always going to run into unexpected problems and roadblocks, if anything it's impressive as few games as there are are having problems at launch and that most everything first party is working. They'll definitely fix a lot of these in due time.

Does anyone know if ring fit works on Switch 2? Obviously I would need to keep the old joy con as the new ones won't fit the ring but will the software still work?

Patiently waiting for Nintendo or Singularity6 to give an update on whether Palia will be getting a patch or just a Switch 2 version. Apparently the devs did not know that there was a compatibility issue until we (the fans that is) asked them about it in their Discord lol! I cannot wait to see the new graphics

@Lizuka there are a lot more third party games then first party 99% of my collection are third party games they had plenty of time to fix these issues...

@Ooccoo_Jr It works, you just need to use the original Joycons and consequently have a way to charge them. The only Nintendo-published game that flat out does not work is the Labo VR kit.

@Suketoudara
They've already announced the ACA Neo Geo games are being patched to run on Switch 2 so I think the rest of the
Arcade Archive games with issues will be patched as well - Hamster is pretty good about that stuff

Are these definitely game updates, or is it actually a Switch 2 update that improves the emulation/compatibility?

@Lizuka Great thanks, I have some Labo that needs building too actually!

@johnedwin Send the third parties emails, I'm sure they'll assign a team to fix them.

The above is sarcasm, don't actually send emails.

These things take time, a lot of developers are focusing on new games for the console. I'm sure the majority of the games you own will run absolutely fine and if not they will get patched down the line, which is what this article is essentially saying.

Nier Automata is incompatible. Sad days.

Very good update, a huge chunk of 3rd party games are now in the full dark blue zone and over 40 games like Doom Eternal, Ender Magnolia, Arcade Archives, Pizza Tower and so on are all confirmed to be getting updates.

There's still games left to fix tho and I hope they continue updating it every month, there's a chunk of games with issues that I own like Alan Wake, Alien Isolation, Mega Man, Street Fighter, Nier etc that still need updates but very positive progress in just a month overall.

really dont care about crunchroll especially all the shady things they been pulling as of late first cancelling princess connect re dive the western version only and over priced subscriptions.

Nier Automata being incompatible is so weird and kinda sad because you know Square doesn't care enough to give it an update. I was really looking forward to seeing how well it would run on the new hardware.

@SpacedDuck Yes, but it depends on what the game was designed to run at originally. Doom Eternal should run at a more consistent (if not locked) 30fps with the dynamic resolution staying higher more often (again, hopefully should cap out at its highest and stay there) but since the frame rate was capped at 30 and the resolution maxed out at 720p in docked it won’t get higher than those without a specific patch being made.

@IceClimbersMain Eshop is universal and i'm pretty sure Square would rather continue selling Nier and Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster to future Switch 2 owners.

They will get patched eventually, don't worry.

I’m mad that there are no news for Alien:Isolation and Oddworld Stranger’s Wrath…
I hope that there won’t be any more games from my OG Switch library that would behave badly on Switch 2!

@Krull Exactly! Hopefully, a Switch 2 app might release soon. Since it released on Switch 1, in 2022, I don't watch Crunchyroll on phone or computer anymore.

@SpacedDuck There's a whole lot of "depends".

Any game with unlocked framerates or using a dynamic resolution should run better/more consistently than on Switch 1 because the dips are caused by it running out of resources (or spending them elsewhere), which the Switch 2 has more of.

If memory serves, DOOM Eternal has an unlocked FPS with a target of 30FPS, and has dynamic resolution that starts at 720p and drops to something like 500 when things get busy. On Switch 2 that should consistently hit its 720p/30fps targets without a patch.

Digital games should also load much faster (as the old SD/Storage speeds were a reported bottleneck on S1).

Since I lost my oled, I'd refused to play alien isolation until I got my switch 2. What a bummer

@JohnnyMind Dude you are in every post. That's impressive

SmileBASIC is still on the "with incompatibilities" list, mostly due to it allowing ToyCon and IR .
If you've coded without those, your games "should" be fine, I think.
.. that's gonna be one of the first things I try out, I reckon!

On one hand it seems like Nintendo has been sitting on the switch 2 for a long time.
On the other hand this release feels rushed and unprepared.

It continues to be very confusing launch.

I just do not like being dependent on patches to be able to play my games.

The other important news is that they've gone from around 20% fully confirmed compatibility to over 60% without many more incompatible games popping up. There are still a few on the pending list that I'd like to see patches for, but I guess that'll be up to the devs.

@SpacedDuck They're going to run the exact same way, unless developers make free patches to update the games' performance, like ARMS and Super Mario Oddyssey cases.

@johnedwin because switch had a lot of third party software. Nintendo does not actively control all of it. Also a lot of these games apparently still run. They just have certain features that either don't work or have issues.

So No Hulu And No Youtube
For Nintendo Switch 2
That Sucks.

@TrogdorTheBurninator it's not being rushed at all.
Nintendo's first party games are basically all fully compatible besides some minor things like Labo (which no one cares about).

Most of the "not fully compatible list" are 3rd party Titles Nintendo has little control over and most of those still play with only minor issues.

Nintendo couldn't just freely give every random developer access to code to make their games switch 2 compatible before the proper reveal.

So addressing every single game HAD to wait until now.

So calm down. Basically everything you likely have or will want to play should already work just fine or will work soon enough.

But since legally some games aren't 100% working on switch 2 they can't legally say otherwise.

Only game I don't like is that Harvestella has gameplay issues.

But yeah, Nintendo is working with developers to fix the issues. I think most of these games will work within 6 months.

Good.
This is the one thing I'm really looking forward to

So is it just to run BC on switch 2 I guess.
So Doom Eternal etc will not get a resolution and 60fps?

I guess if these games had upgrades like TOTK
there would be a small cost to them.

Glad to see the progress they're making! Appreciate Nintendo's transparency and proactiveness regarding the BC issues.

Hopefully Nier Automata gets patched soon. Also surprised to see that Pizza Tower is getting patched soon, as I assumed that one would take a while due to the studio most likely not having a dev kit yet

They don’t heavily test these games either. If it says it boots, that, and a little further, is probably what they tested. We won’t absolutely know what works until games actually get played more heavily but s.

I was hoping for something more like ps5 or xbox series where previous gen stuff works natively and has faster load times and up scaling out of the box.

So far it seems like the vast majority of titles are compatible. A good thing for sure.

@Anachronism I’m not sure it’s fully confirmed compatibility is it? Isn’t it just testing that it boots and playing it briefly to see if it keeps running? If it’s actual 60% full compatibility that’s nice.

But which 3rd party games are getting enhanced with improved graphics and performance?

Surprised nobody is mentioning the Jackbox Party Packs, considering those are by far what get the most playtime on my switch for the past couple of years

@N8tiveT3ch I don’t disagree, but it’s nice to carry fewer devices around with me. And a Switch 2 screen is far better than my phone. But you’re right - it’s just a missing convenience, not a travesty.

@Minako-Meleph Yeah, my tablet won’t even run Crunchyroll any more! Stupid iOS updates. So it’s phone or Switch for Crunchyroll on the move for me.

@Cakefish Don't worry, they'll fix the issues eventually.

Maybe this all means I can just do a system transfer and not worry about porting everything over and reing individually straight from the eshop Any body else stressed about how that process is gonna work?

@Dang_69 About the system transfer, I think I've read somewhere (possibly here at nintendolife.sitesunblocked.org) that this will be the first Nintendo systems transfer that will continue to let you play all your games on both systems after it's done, except for Animal Crossing. But I could be wrong, it would need verification.

Ok I found the article elsewhere, but I am not sure that it is 100% true:
https://nintendowire.com/news/2025/04/07/system-transfers-to-switch-2-wont-erase-original-switch-save-data-except-for-animal-crossing/

That's pretty good to hear that they're still hard at work on this.

As far as apps, we really don't know anything about Switch 2's approach to online. Should we expect it to just be exactly the same, or are they (hopefully) building on and improving the offerings from Switch 1?

@Pat84 thank you so effing much!

I wonder if "problem" games will also transfer over, even if known to not currently run???

I'm curious to see how Arkhan Knight runs its ue4 so in theory should perform better without patching, texture will still look ropey, I'd be surprised if wb do patch it to run as it should have.

Alien isolation whyyyy?
I'm right in the middle of a playthrough!

@Pat84 This is true for the local system transfer option. It is essentially the reason why virtual game cards exists. You can have some games loaded on your Switch 1, while others are loaded on your Switch 2. (Can still play all games on both but you will either need to move the virtual game card or use the online license check method.)

BEWARE: The system transfer using the server does delete your games and save data, so only use this method if you are planning on trading in your Switch.

https://en-americas-.nintendo.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/68432/~/system-transfer-from-nintendo-switch-to-nintendo-switch
This article explicitly states that the server transfer will delete your data. It doesn't explicitly state that the local transfer will keep your data.

Wii and Wii U digital games were always locked to a single console. Wii U didn't any save file backups, so only means to move save games was to do a system transfer. Wii you could copy save data to SD card so you could move between systems for physical games.

@HHappyGoose88 happy for you

This is why I will just keep my Switch 1, I don't trust backwards compatibility through software emulations as most games will not run that well compare to how they did through native hardware.

@Dang_69 According to the article I linked above:

*Digital software will be ed onto the target Nintendo Switch 2 console after the system transfer and inital console set up is complete. Internet connection is required to complete software s.

So it seems the game data itself isn't transferred just move the virtual game card and signal the console to after setup.

I'm hoping the local transfer allows me to be selective of which games to move over as I will not have space on the 256GB system memory to store all the Switch games I own.

I hope most indie games on switch 1 will be updated to 120 fps on switch 2, then switch 2 will be the console to play indie games

Another Crab’s Treasure is still on the list 😕

Hoping it’ll get resolved but I have no idea if it’s a priority or not. I’m guessing not…

@Metazoxan I care about Labo
But you're right 🤣

Still doesn't feel real that the Switch 2 launch is almost here!!

Backwards compatibility is definitely more complicated than we would like it to be, especially with Nintendo's plug-and-play philosophy. But it's great to see Nintendo hard at work making these updates happen as a core feature to their console transition!

Great! But must say that the newest rumour (if true) really have ruined any hope or expectation for this new console. Supposedly the console needs Internet activation to actually work (at least for Switch 1 games).

"Update: wario64 tweetTwitter wario64 tweeted this "Another person shared with me that they have a Nintendo Switch 2 as well. I have no permission to post pics but can share that when they try to boot a Switch 1 game, a message prompts "Please connect to the internet and update your system."

Needs update to boot a game""

Nintendo really changed for the worse. :/

@jesse_dylan At least from the chart on their website, it looks like the majority of Switch games have now met whatever their highest standard is for compatibility, with most of the remainder still sitting in the "it starts, but more testing is needed" category and maybe 1% in the "incompatible/not fully compatible" categories. There will almost definitely be some glitches that slip past their testing, but it's hard to guess how widespread that will be until the general public gets their hands on it.

@Anachronism Right--well, if most of the games are now meeting higher standards than "it starts," that is actually a really good step.

My main worry is that some of the stuff that doesn't work, will just never work. It's not realistic to expect really small devs to do a patch on their games. Some games were made on PC by tiny teams, ported to Switch by someone else and funded by a publisher, and said publisher may not even realize or care if there's an issue.

In an ideal world, everything would get a free minimalistic patch to work, load faster, and maybe even run faster and upscale, but I don't know if that's what will happen.

I'm keeping my Switch 1 and it will remain in my family subscription. That way, I can always send a digital game card over there for full compatibility.

@SpacedDuck The Doom games are probably the most complicated to guess at. They dynamically adjust resolution and effects to keep a great framerate, there may need to be an update to allow the game to access higher resolutions and some of the effects.

Nintendo Switch 2 emulates routines from Switch 1. Some of them are missing or don’t behave exactly as on the original system, that’s why games using those routines don’t work. Nintendo must have a list of those routines and are fixing them, and each such fix also makes many games to work better. Same happened with Xbox One generation which switched to 64bit X86 and through sw emulator ed games from Xbox 360 and its 64bit PowerPC architecture and also first Xbox with 32bit X86. They also had different GPUs and had to be emulated too. Microsoft increased resolution, uncapped framerate and also added some HDR through their emulator. I expect the emulator in Switch 2 to evolve and fix most of the games eventually.

i intend to keep my switch1console around until it stops working maybe 20 to 30 years from now i still have a old original ps2 i still play games on..and it works fine...

@Pat84 If they don't allow it to be selective I wonder if it is just better to Import Data from the Switch onto the Switch 2 (assuming this method works) rather than use the System Transfer tool.

Alien Isolation isn't gonna make me cancel my pre-order, but I hope they fix this.

Still no word on Rocket League getting fixed for Switch 2. I wonder if that one will end up getting a Switch 2 version like Fortnite since it's also by Epic.

@Anti-Matter I really hope they do 4k 60fps. My wife would love it.

ABEMA won't work? 😱 Oh noes! How will I get my bi-monthly sumo fix?

... oh yeah, Twitch.

@N8tiveT3ch Less features is not a good thing, nerd. It's convenient to have them on the same console, especially on a Switch.

CRAP! I planed to play Harvestella on Switch 2 since it has some perf issues on Switch 1… 😑

It'd be nice if no shovelware makes the cut but that's too much to ask, I know.

@OdnetninAges That is true, taking away features can be a bad thing. I'm sure the feature does exist because they need to show trailers and showcases. That means it can exist for streaming apps like YouTube and others. The issue is up to the app dev to make sure that it works with the new system. I don't know. Maybe they recode the whole app again. I don't see it being Nintendo's job to make sure that streaming apps work on their new system. They are a gaming and toy company first.

Fair, Gal Guardians I have a bit to go with, so will keep that one in mind.

Don't have Travis Strikes Again yet but will keep it in mind for testing.

Interesting to see which ones get more fixes to be compatible.

Not getting a Switch 2 right away but will keep in mind the list updates for future purchases or past purchases to compare with the list.

Too bad Palia is still on the list, I hoped to return to this 10 Gb freemium (or possible an even larger version thereof, considering the reported content updates since) on NS2... but at worst, I could always just put it back on Switch by offloading something else, and its "live service" nature suggests high odds of a compatibility patch anyway. I dare expect many other titles like the Square Enix-helmed NieR Automata and Harvestella will get ironed out in the visible future, too; it's the ones with rumouredly defunct studios or unresolved publisher feuds that would be a cause for concern, but so far I'm not spotting either kind of such [allegedly applicable] cases. If anything, the dawn of the new console generation can even make you wonder if some previously delisted games could resurface once again.

@johnedwin bear this line of text from Nintendo's page in mind: "Updated May 27, based on testing data from April 24, 2025."

The data is from a month ago, so not a week before launch. They've just published it now. More work will have obviously been done in the following weeks.

@Dev-N YouTube is currently on the list with startup issues.

@JohnnyMind Thank you. What a fine and educated gentleman you are. Yes I enjoying this site since 2018 and I'm always here too but I don't always comment. I hope I continue to see your comments for a long time.

I hope SWKOTOR keeps a performance bump.

One question I hope get answered concerns whether certain Switch 1 games will load quicker when playing through Switch 2. There are some games that take a bit long to load on Switch 1, even from the system memory.

@Diven that's okay if the game data itself isn't transfered I just want all the icons, the keycard loading and dlc access along with the physical save data (for games like Splatoon 2 that don't use the cloud) to transfer over in one action. I expected to have to re my digital game data (I'm mostly physical).

@TAndvig I think that just means that either 1) you need to update each game for it to run on Switch 2 or 2) There is a day 1 OS update that needs to be installed before running the games. I'm assuming this is isn't a "Everytime you pop in a Switch game into Switch 2 you have to thru the Internet. I just doubt they're that bad and think it's option 2 and is part of the reason they haven't sent review systems out to outlets yet.