Without backward compatibility, the Nintendo Switch 2 might be a harder sell for some gamers. The Nintendo Switch is the third best-selling console of all time, and seven years after its debut, many Switch owners have massive game libraries. Official confirmation of any Switch 2 feature or functionality is months away, but a recent leak should give fans hope that they won’t have to start from scratch if they decide to upgrade next year.
On Monday, YouTuber Doctre81 shared an entry from the LinkedIn profile of a former Nintendo employee who worked as a senior software engineer from February 2021 to August 2023. In that entry, the engineer talks about how they “took ownership of an existing project and redesigned to reduce complexity, vastly increase performance, and introduce new features while maintaining all existing functionality [emphasis ours].
Unsurprisingly, the employee does not mention the “project” by name, but all signs point to this being the Switch 2 (or “NG”). After all, what else is Nintendo working on that would fit any of the details that were shared in this LinkedIn profile?
Skip to 1:00 in the video below to see the LinkedIn profile for yourself:
Assuming this project is the Switch 2, “all existing functionality” would suggest that the next-gen console can do anything and everything the current Switch can. Presumably, that should include playing physical Switch cartridges as well as digital Switch games.
Going a step further, this might also point to Nintendo Switch Online making the jump to the next Switch. As much as I miss the Virtual Console on the Wii and Wii U, I would love to see Nintendo continue to build upon its collection of retro games on the Switch 2.
Last month, I said backward compatibility was one of a few requisite features for the Switch 2 if Nintendo wants to break the cycle of alternating successful and ill-fated consoles. Here’s hoping this mystery developer felt the same way, because it would be a big mistake for Nintendo not to follow its own lead with the DS and 3DS.
