Nearly ten years after launch, the original Nintendo Switch will vanish from European shops next year. Blame a new EU rule on batteries, not the Switch 2.
Nintendo will stop selling every version of the original Switch in Europe from mid-February 2027, The Verge reports. That lands weeks before the console’s tenth birthday. The cull covers the Switch, the Switch Lite and the Switch OLED model. Sales to retailers and through the Nintendo Store will both end.
Blame the battery rules
A new EU regulation drives the change. From 18 February 2027, portable devices sold in the bloc must let owners swap out their own batteries. Nintendo will phase out current models and roll out revised ones that comply, starting this summer. It promises “no difference in functionality” between the old and new versions.
The Switch 2 gets the biggest overhaul. A version with a user-replaceable battery should reach shops in the autumn, Engadget reports. The trade-offs are tiny. The new battery holds 5,172mAh against 5,220mAh, a drop of about 1 per cent, and the console gains roughly 10g. Revised Joy-Con controllers, the Switch 2 Pro Controller and the N64 and GameCube pads follow on a rolling basis.
