Nintendo made some big moves in 2025. The company finally released the much-anticipated Switch 2, and several major titles came with it. Mario Kart World was the first new mainline Mario Kart in 11 years, Donkey Kong Bananza brought back Nintendo’s great ape in style, and Metroid Prime 4 finally surfaced after a long, long wait. Now, as Nintendo’s new system moves into its all-important second year, there are a lot of questions hanging over it. Here are our expectations for Nintendo in 2026.
The First-Party Games Announced For 2026
The slate of announced first-party titles for Switch and Switch 2 in 2026 is surprisingly thin. Aside from updates for Animal Crossing: New Horizons and Super Mario Bros. Wonder, Nintendo’s only other Switch 2 games announced for 2026 are Mario Tennis Fever (February 12), Pokemon Pokopia (March 5), Yoshi and the Mysterious Book (Spring), and Fire Emblem: Fortune’s Weave (2026). Splatoon Raiders has also been announced, but does not have a release window as of yet. On the Switch 1, we’ve got Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream coming on April 16, plus Pokemon Champions and Rhythm Heaven Groove confirmed for this year.
It’s a good list of titles, but Fire Emblem is the only real heavy hitter there. The big game of the Switch’s second year was Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, but by then, the system already had Breath of the Wild and Super Mario Odyssey. The Switch 2 simply does not have games equivalent to those yet. With that in mind …
Expect Many More First-Party Announcements For 2026 & 2027
The purchase of a Nintendo console comes with the promise that you’ll get new entries in the biggest Nintendo-exclusive series eventually, and until these games are announced, fans are likely to be a little itchy. It’s been more than eight years since the last mainline 3D Super Mario game, and while the Super Mario Odyssey team delivered a great game with last year’s Donkey Kong Bananza, it feels very likely that we will learn more about Mario’s next big adventure this year, even if it ends up being a 2027 release.
The most recent mainline Zelda game, Tears of the Kingdom, came out less than three years ago, so we might not see a new Zelda title this year–but there’s a good chance Nintendo will announce that it’s working on a new Zelda in 2026, at least, especially with a live-action film slated for May 7, 2027. It’ll be interesting to see what shape the next Zelda game takes, but we might be waiting for a while yet.
With development timelines stretching out, some other big series fans are expecting new entries for might be no-shows this year. We might not hear about a new Super Smash Bros. until 2027, for instance, especially since series mastermind Masahiro Sakurai has been busy with Kirby Air Riders. New Pikmin and Kirby games are also probably still a ways off.
A Big Game To End The Year
The Switch 2 arguably did not deliver a big exclusive to close out 2025, since Pokemon Legends Z-A and Metroid Prime 4 were both Switch 1 titles that were available in upgraded forms. It’s likely that Nintendo is planning a bigger release for the end of 2026, and one with wide mainstream appeal. Splatoon is a big-enough series now that Splatoon Raiders could theoretically fill that gap, and, of course, a big new 3D Mario would fit the bill nicely.
The most likely “Christmas” game for the company, though, is a follow-up to Pokemon Scarlet/Violet. Those games sold incredibly well in 2022 despite launching in a compromised state, and Nintendo has never let more than four years pass without releasing a new mainline Pokemon game, so two new entries to close out the year are a near-certainty.
Third-Party Support Will Show What The System Can Do
Ports of games that are also available on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S have been a great way to measure the Nintendo Switch 2’s capabilities. Capcom is leading the way here, with Pragmata and Resident Evil 9 both coming to the Switch 2 early in 2026, but it’s also going to be very interesting to see how the Switch 2 versions of 007: First Light, Yakuza Kiwami 3, and Indiana Jones and the Great Circle fare–the more success they find, the more reason developers have to port their games to Switch 2 in the future.
The Switch 1, meanwhile, will likely receive fewer ports over time, especially for games that are less important to the Japanese market. It’s a shame–the era of the Switch “impossible port” is likely coming to an end–but the additional power of the Switch 2 makes it much more attractive to AAA studios. Smaller indie titles, however, will likely continue coming to Switch into the foreseeable future, thanks to the system’s huge install base.
Port Begging
Whenever Nintendo announces their Direct broadcasts for the year, expect speculation on which big recent releases will be making their way to the Nintendo Switch 2. Clair Obscur? We really hope so. The Seance at Blake Manor? Seems likely. Diablo IV? Wouldn’t that be great?
As more high-quality ports land on the system, there’s going to be more demand that other big games get ported over. Of course, part of this process is going to be figuring out what the system can and can’t do: Red Dead Redemption 2 is a realistic game to hope for, but could Switch 2 run Grand Theft Auto 6? How about Fable and Forza Horizon 6? After the excellent Star Wars Outlaws port, anything feels possible.
From Software’s Output May Define The Switch 2 Audience
From Software has two huge games on the way to Switch 2 this year. The port of Elden Ring, one of the most critically beloved games of the last few years, is shaping up well based on a hands-on demo I experienced late last year. It’s a few years late, but Elden Ring on the go is an enticing proposition.
But the real test of the system’s mettle will be The Duskbloods, a game that appears to be a spiritual successor to the PlayStation 4 exclusive Bloodborne, and which is being published by Nintendo. For The Duskbloods to succeed on Switch 2, there will need to be a significant audience for a huge, hardcore action-RPG–enough that its eight-player infrastructure can really shine. If The Duskbloods does well, it may open the door for more games of its kind on the system.
Expect More Switch 1 Upgrades
In the first year of the Nintendo Switch, Nintendo released three games on the system that were also available on the Wii U–Breath of the Wild, Mario Kart 8, and Pokken Tournament–alongside several all-new titles. In the system’s second year, it released five upgraded Wii U games. That was a unique situation: The Wii U had sold very poorly, and it made sense to rescue many of the system’s best games from their doomed hardware. The Switch 2 is in a different situation, but more upgraded versions of games that could benefit from the new system’s extra juice, with a cheeky upgrade charge attached, feel likely. Bayonetta 3 and the Xenoblade Chronicles series are particularly strong candidates.
Something Weird And Unpredictable
Nintendo has a habit of suddenly announcing left-field games and products out of nowhere. It’s been a while since the last one (Alarmo), so we’re due for another. Whether it’s another Labo-style new creation, something as clever and enjoyable as Ring Fit Adventure, or one of Nintendo’s strange soft flops (think Mario Kart: Home Circuit, Wii Music, and, if we’re being particularly ungenerous, the Wii U), we’ll have to wait and see. And no, I don’t think its Talking Flower toy is weird enough to count.
Nintendo Switch Online Stays the Course
Nintendo Switch Online continues to exist somewhere between being a great deal and a little disappointing, and we expect we’ll spend a lot of 2026 being drip-fed new games. There’s a new console coming to the service in 2026–the Virtual Boy–but the real question mark hangs over the Nintendo GameCube, Nintendo 64, and Game Boy Advance catalogues, which still have a great many gaps in them. Will we get Smash Bros. 64 and/or Melee? Diddy Kong Racing? Star Fox Adventures? One of the good handheld Pokemon games? Nintendo is unpredictable here, but we can hope.
Don’t Expect Hardware Revisions
The first revisions for the Switch did not arrive until year three (2019), when the Switch Lite released and the original Switch received a battery upgrade. Nintendo has manufactured the Switch 2 in huge numbers to ensure there’s enough supply to meet demand, and with rising component costs, a newly updated version of the hardware feels very unlikely in 2026–there’s simply no historical precedent for it, and the system is already selling well.
Brace For Price Increases
In recent years, console manufacturers have slowly raised the prices of their systems rather than reducing them over time, and analysts are warning that the Switch 2 will probably share this fate. This isn’t guaranteed, of course, but there’s a good chance it happens–hopefully with some notice, so anyone on the fence can snap a console up before the increase.
Nintendo Switch 2 games are already more expensive than Switch 1 titles were, but there’s a possibility that there will be increases in other areas, too. The price of the Nintendo Switch Online service has not gone up since it launched in 2018, nor has the price of Expansion Pack, which released in 2021 and has since added 126 titles across its Sega Genesis, Game Boy Advance, Nintendo 64, and Nintendo GameCube catalogues. After Nintendo discontinued its Game Vouchers program and Gold Points discount system, a price increase for this service feels very possible.
Outside Possibilities
Part of the fun of following game releases is that curveballs can pop up, and announcements are more exciting when they’re unpredictable. Maybe Nintendo finally has a new idea for F-Zero, or has a new franchise cooking. Perhaps Paper Mario will make a full-throated return, or Bayonetta 4 will drop a trailer. We could get another Famicom Detective Club, or Mario could take up a new sport. Star Fox might finally find the keys to his Arwing again. Maybe, if we’re really lucky, Nintendo cleans up the eShop and stops letting so much slop through.
My personal greatest hope would be a third-party release: Ace Attorney 7 for Switch 2. It’s been 10 years since Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney – Spirit of Justice, and Capcom has made sure the entire Ace Attorney series–including several that had never been released in English previously–received ports to all modern systems. We’re due. Please, Capcom!
