Switch 2 plays Switch 1 games through something "in between a software emulator and hardware compatibility," so don't expect the same backward compatibility we got on 3DS and Wii U

While Nintendo Switch 2 backwards compatibility will let you play a broad range of many of the original Switch's library, it isn't completely all-encompassing. Nintendo says there were some notable technical challenges in fully supporting the previous system's library.

"When we first started Switch 2 development, the focus was on enhancing its performance as hardware, namely, expanding its capacity," Switch 2 director Takuhiro Dohta says in an official interview. "So, compatibility was a lower priority. For example, Nintendo DS games were playable on Nintendo 3DS, and Wii games were playable on Wii U, but it was difficult to achieve the same level of compatibility with Switch 2, because the hardware design approach was different from those systems."

"Simply put, those systems were compatible because Nintendo 3DS contained Nintendo DS hardware and Wii U contained Wii hardware," producer Kouichi Kawamoto explains. "However, Switch 2 doesn't contain any Switch hardware."

Instead, Dohta says, Switch 2 uses "something that’s somewhere in between a software emulator and hardware compatibility," with a process that converts Switch 1 data into something Switch 2 can handle in real time as the game runs. A true software emulator would take too great a toll on the system's battery, Nintendo says.

Nintendo has already published an initial list of Switch 1 games that won't run on Switch 2, and there are some notable names in there, including highly demanding ports like Doom Eternal and certain emulated games, including several Arcade Archives titles. Those games won't launch at all, but there's an additional list of games that work with "some in-game compatibility issues," including Fall Guys, Factorio, and Alien: Isolation.

Several dozen titles are included in the non-compatible lists, but it's worth noting that 122 first-party games and over 15,000 third-party titles are greenlit for backwards compatibility. Nintendo says it's "continuing to improve compatibility, including by working with publishing and developing partners."

Stay up to date on all the upcoming Switch 2 games.