Nintendo says it's "constantly considering the balance" between developing Switch 2 games and pushing out updates to OG Switch favorites.
Nintendo's Switch 2 updates have been interesting to look at. Some games, like Kirby and the Forgotten Land, get a Switch 2 version with what amounts to an expansion pack, others like the Zelda games are more straightforward Switch 2 editions, making them run and look better for a fee. And then there are Switch games that get updated for Switch 2 regardless, albeit not as a dedicated "Switch 2 Edition."
Recently, Nintendo confirmed Animal Crossing: New Horizons Update 3.0 alongside a Switch 2 Edition version out of the blue, but only weeks prior, a new Pikmin 4 update was announced with no Switch 2 enhancements at all (even if Pikmin makes way more sense to get a Switch 2 Edition with mouse controls being a thing).
During a recent shareholders' Q&A session, Nintendo director and senior managing executive officer Shinya Takahashi explains this somewhat. During a question on if releases will slow down in the Switch 2 era compared to the original (where Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa separately explains that Nintendo still plans on making games for the original Switch), Takahashi notes that Nintendo wants to "continue placing importance on things like the recently announced update to Animal Crossing: New Horizons."
He continues: "We are constantly considering the balance between the development of brand new Nintendo Switch 2 titles and new entries in existing series, and updates to existing Nintendo Switch software."
So, unless Nintendo has a Switch 2 replacement explicitly planned in the near-future (like Mario Kart World), there's a chance we'll see updates to existing Switch games peppered throughout the early years of this generation.
Following another GTA 6 delay, Palworld lead says "expect to see many games (especially AAA ones) swerve to avoid the 2027 awards season."
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