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Potential Switch 2 Changes for EU Replaceable Battery Regulation

There are two sticking points to Switch 2’s compliance to EU’s replaceable battery regulation.

Excerpt from EU Regulation 2023/1542 of 12 July 2023: A portable battery should be considered to be removable by the end-user when it can be removed with the use of commercially available tools and without requiring the use of specialised tools, unless they are provided free of charge, or proprietary tools, thermal energy or solvents to disassemble it. Commercially available tools are considered to be tools available on the market to all end-users without the need for them to provide evidence of any proprietary rights and that can be used with no restriction, except health and safety-related restrictions.
  1. Glued-on faceplate of Pro Controller 2: One has to use a solvent or heat to remove it, but the regulation stipulates that “thermal energy or solvents” shall not be required. Nintendo needs to either replace the glue with a different fastening method, or add a battery access hatch on the backplate.
  2. Usage of tri-wing screws: It isn’t clear whether the tri-wing screwdriver is considered a “commercially available tool” per Regulation 2023/1542. Since you can easily buy a tri-wing screwdriver online, maybe it is compliant (“tools available on the market to all end-users”). But if it isn’t, Nintendo has to either replace these screws with Torx or Philips ones, or provide a tri-wing screwdrivers to the user “free of charge”.

And as mentioned here before, compliance to the regulation doesn’t mean it’d be as simple as changing AA batteries in a remote. You’ll most likely need tools, instructions, and time.

[Originally posted on 2026-06-02 Pacific Time]