[Reacting to online discourse of gamers disappointed by Switch 2’s lack of “big games”] If these enthusiasts disappointed by NS2 had paid more attention to Furukawa’s remarks, they would’ve understood that Nintendo’s year 1 focus for Switch 2 is hardware production, and the push for first party software will begin in earnest this coming fiscal year.
Since the “successor” announcement in 2024-05, Furukawa talked numerous times about building up production capacity for the launch period and first holiday season. Take just one example:
This fiscal year, we will […] strengthen our production capacity to respond to […] increased demand
Conversely, their year 1 software plan was conservative, because:
publishers […] have a more robust lineup than at the time of the Nintendo Switch launch, and the availability of Nintendo Switch 2 Edition titles
This allows Nintendo to prioritize producing and marketing of NS2 hardware over releasing more first party software in year 1:
Our dedicated video game platform business is based on first expanding the hardware installed base and then continually releasing new titles
if we can expand the hardware installed base, we can use that as a basis to greatly expand software sales
The strategy is a resounding success. The hardware sales not only saw a record start, but the sell-through line was almost straight—not hampered by supply constraints typical of console launches.
With a solid installed base, Nintendo is ready to shift gears. Furukawa said to Kyoto Shimbun:
２０２６年以降はよりソフトを充実させていきたい
(From 2026 onward we aim to further expand our software lineup)
The company has a multi-year release schedule of system sellers planned:
over the next few years [consumers] will transition to Nintendo Switch 2 when new titles that catch their attention are released
What could be these heavy-hitters?
多くのファンにお待ちいただいている人気シリーズのタイトルも開発は進めているが
(We are making progress on developing titles from popular series that many fans have been eagerly waiting for)
It sounds like we’d hear about new 3D Mario and mainline Zelda games as soon as this year.
[Sidebar]
Remember Tom Henderson’s “exclusive” about Switch 2’s 3-phase software release plan? It was not only instantly sus, but has been repeatedly proven nonsense since. Reporters really need to stop using their dev friends as “sources” for Nintendo’s internal business decisions.
[References]
Financial Results Briefing Q&A: 2025-05-09, 2025-11-05, 2026-02-04
Financial Results Explanatory Material: 2026-02-04
Kyoto Shimbun interview: 2026-01-09
[Originally posted on 2026-02-24 Pacific Time]
