A couple of days ago, Nintendo unveiled its plan to phase out the original Switch in Europe next year – a plan that thankfully apparently does not, in fact, apply to other regions.
Nintendo confirms as much in a new statement to IGN, which asked the company whether or not its announcement regarding a withdrawal from the EU will affect the availability of the OG Switch elsewhere globally.
"We plan to continue selling Nintendo Switch outside of regions where Nintendo of Europe conducts business," its message reads – a reassuring one, at that. After all, its initial words left folks uncertain.
They outlined how the base Nintendo Switch – alongside its Lite and OLED models – will continue to be manufactured throughout 2026 and "should be widely available in Europe all year," but confirmed that production would end in 2027.
"From mid-February 2027, almost 10 years after Nintendo Switch launched in March 2017, Nintendo will no longer sell to retailers hardware in the Nintendo Switch family of systems," Nintendo wrote.
It clarified that "sales of Nintendo Switch hardware on Nintendo Store will also end in mid-February 2027" – but it didn't mention markets outside of the EU (until now, of course).
This news comes after Nintendo's announcement that a new Switch 2 with a replaceable battery is coming early next year "to meet the Regulation" set out for waste reduction in Europe. Both changes – the removal of the Switch from the EU market and the different Switch 2 – from the company come as a result of this regulation.
There's no telling what the future holds for the original Switch, though – Nintendo is shifting its focus to the Switch 2 with software releases, so its life might just be coming to an end.
Searching for something to look forward to? Here are the best new games coming this year and beyond to wishlist now.
