Nintendo Re-Confirms Important Feature for Switch 2 Console

gamerant.com:

Nintendo confirms that the highly-anticipated Switch successor will use the existing Nintendo Account system. The Big N has previously stated that the accounts would be part of the plans for the follow-up to the Nintendo Switch. Still, as things tend to change quite quickly in the gaming industry, it's nice to get confirmation that this desired feature is still part of the bigger picture.

The hope that Nintendo Accounts would remain a core feature for the upcoming console largely lies in the belief that the affectionately but not officially titled Switch 2 will be backward compatible. Backward compatibility is generally a desired feature for new hardware, but that goes double for the Switch successor as the current console features astronomical attach rates among its playerbase. Based on the recently updated list of the best-selling Nintendo Switch games, fans have been filling up their libraries with first-party titles like Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and Animal Crossing: New Horizons. Not to mention, indie developers have been breaking records left and right by launching their games on the Switch's eShop.

Thanks to a translation provided by OutmealDome on Twitter, fans now know that Nintendo President Shuntaro Furukawa was asked directly whether the Nintendo Switch successor will make use of the Nintendo Account system during a recent investor meeting. Rather than playing coy, Furukawa directly responded with a resounding «yes.» He went on to state that the Nintendo Account has long been a part of the company's plans, dating back even before the Switch itself.

Nintendo also hinted at the Switch 2 design in the investor call, more or less. Furukawa was not shy about referring to the upcoming hardware as a successor to the Switch rather than a new direction for the company. The hybrid form factor has been a massive success for the company, but Nintendo has been known to surprise fans with outside-the-box thinking. Luckily, for fans of the Switch, it appears as though the