Will Pokemon Winds and Waves be on Switch 1?

In Pokemon Winds and Waves, the large whale-like Pokemon Wailord shoots water up from its blow hole on the surface of the ocean — (Image credit: Nintendo)

Pokemon Winds and Waves, aka Generation 10, have officially been announced, releasing in 2027 and with new trailers and material showing off their graphics and tech on the Nintendo Switch 2. But can they also be played on the older model, the Nintendo Switch 1? We'll explain below just how exclusive Winds and Waves are, and whether you'll need to upgrade or not.

Can you play Pokemon Winds and Waves on Nintendo Switch 1?

A trainer standing on a rock next to the ocean during Pokemon Winds and Waves — (Image credit: The Pokemon Company)

No, Pokemon Winds and Waves will not be playable on the Nintendo Switch 1, at least at time of writing, and there's no current indication that's likely to change, or that a backwards-compatible friendly version will be released at any point (though we'll update this page if so). Sorry to say, but Pokemon Winds and Waves are officially Switch 2 exclusives.

There's a few possible reasons for this choice to limit Generation 10 to the Switch 2. One may be simply to encourage sales of the Nintendo Switch 2 by restricting the newest entry of one of the biggest Nintendo franchises to the newer model, a common industry practice. Or, if you want to be more charitable, the announcement of Generation 10 showed off more advanced water physics and graphics suggestive of greater hardware intensity - meaning it's possible that it wouldn't be feasible to get Winds and Waves to run on the Nintendo Switch 1 at all, or at least have to run in a deeply reduced state.

CATEGORIES

Joel Franey is a writer, journalist, podcaster and Very Tired Man with a BA from Brunel University, a Masters from Sussex University and a decade working in games journalism, often focused on guides coverage but also in reviews, features and news. His love of games is strongest when it comes to groundbreaking narratives like Disco Elysium, UnderTale and Baldur's Gate 3, as well as innovative or refined gameplay experiences like XCOM, Sifu, Arkham Asylum or Slay the Spire. He is a firm believer that the vast majority of games would be improved by adding a grappling hook, and if they already have one, they should probably add another just to be safe. You can find old work of his at Eurogamer, Gfinity, USgamer, SFX Magazine, RPS, Dicebreaker, VG247, and more.