During the shareholders’ Q&A session of Nintendo‘s financial results briefing for the first half of the fiscal year ending March 2026, president Shuntaro Furukawa stated that while the company’s development resources will shift primarily to the Switch 2 going forward, it will still continue to develop Switch software. He added that new titles for the now eight-year-old console are already planned.
Furukawa talked a bit about Nintendo’s step-by-step business practices, which are based on establishing widespread adoption of new hardware before continuously planning and releasing new titles. He said that the Switch generation achieved this balance well, with several games becoming mainstays that have continued to sell for a long time.
While Nintendo’s aspirations for the Switch 2 are similar to those of its predecessor, Furukawa noted that increasing costs and development times for games have made the Switch 2’s backwards compatibility feature even more important.
“… with software development costs increasing and development ccycles lengthening, it is becoming more difficult than ever to consistently release new titles. Since the Switch 2 can also play Switch software, we would like to recommend Switch software to consumers who are picking up a game console for the first time. Taking this into consideration, we believe that maintaining the momentum of our Switch 2 business will depend on balancing the release of new titles with ensuring that staple titles continue to be enjoyed for a long time.”
Using the upcoming Animal Crossing: New Horizons 3.0 update as an example, director and senior managing executive officer Shinya Takahashi added that while Nintendo’s development team is hard at work creating new games, it also values updating past releases, and strives to create a balance between the two.
As a final note, Takahashi revealed that Nintendo is currently working on fostering relationships with new collaborators as well as improving relations with existing partners. The company also plans to expand its development team in both quality and quantity, with additional funding being allocated “if necessary.”
Though Nintendo’s dedication to the Switch is admirable, several development studios outside of the company have reported that they have yet to receive the Switch 2 dev kits they requested months prior to the console’s release. Others were reportedly told by Nintendo to develop their games for the Switch instead, whereupon players could make use of the Switch 2’s backwards compatibility to play them there. While the details remain unclear, perhaps the situation will improve as the overwhelming demand for the Switch 2 and its dev kits mellow out.
Related: Nintendo says there are currently no data leaks from recent cyberattack on its servers
