Nintendo’s original Switch handheld is nearing its 10-year birthday, but instead of blowing up the balloons and setting out the party hats, Nintendo may be preparing to put the original Switch out to pasture. Europe will be the first to see the original Switch go, and soon Nintendo may turn all its focus to the Switch 2.
In an update to its support page FAQ, Nintendo says of the European market: “From mid-February 2027, almost ten years after Nintendo Switch launched in March 2017, Nintendo will no longer sell to retailers hardware in the Nintendo Switch family of systems – specifically Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Switch Lite and Nintendo Switch OLED Model.” By next year, you won’t be able to buy any new Switch hardware from the Nintendo Store if you live in the EU. While you can still buy OG Joy-Con replacements, you won’t be able to purchase the NES, SNES, or Sega Mega Drive recreation controllers directly from Nintendo. The move is sure to concern some OG Switch diehards. Nintendo blames European Union regulations that require new products to include user-replaceable batteries. The Mario maker is crafting a Euro-specific version of its Switch 2 handheld that includes the new battery design. The company will also have to create new Joy-Con 2 controllers, Switch 2 Pro controllers, Nintendo GameCube controllers, and N64 controllers with the new battery design. Nintendo says these revised devices should roll out over time starting this summer and going into early 2027, when the new regulations become law. Nintendo may not think the original Switch is worth revising for the European market. In its latest earnings report, Nintendo notes that it sold 3.8 million new Switch consoles in its fiscal year 2026. That’s a near-65% drop in sales compared to the same time last year. Nintendo says Europe made up approximately 830,000 of its fiscal year 2026 original Switch sales—not a small piece of the pie. Taking the original Switch off the European market will make its original handheld even more irrelevant.
