Nintendo to Discontinue Original Switch Sales in Europe Next Year

Nintendo is gearing up to launch a new version of the Switch 2 featuring a replaceable battery in Europe, while the original Switch faces a different fate. In an updated FAQ regarding hardware revisions in Europe, the company announced that it will cease sales of all original Switch models on the continent starting next year.

Here’s the full statement:
> From mid-February 2027, nearly ten years after the Nintendo Switch debuted in March 2017, Nintendo will stop supplying retailers with hardware from the Nintendo Switch family — specifically the Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Switch Lite, and Nintendo Switch – OLED Model. Sales of Nintendo Switch hardware on the Nintendo Store will also conclude in mid-February 2027.

This announcement coincides with Nintendo’s plans to update its lineup in response to EU regulations mandating user-replaceable batteries. Beginning this summer, the company will start rolling out updated versions of various devices on a “rolling basis,” ahead of the regulations taking effect on February 18, 2027. Nintendo assures that “there is no difference in functionality between current products and revised products containing user-replaceable batteries.”

The Switch 2 is the most significant product receiving an update, with its release expected in the fall. Additionally, new versions of the Joy-Con controllers, Joy-Con 2, Switch 2 Pro Controller, and N64 and GameCube Switch controllers will feature user-replaceable batteries. Nintendo has noted that “due to a variety of factors, revised products may not become available in all European countries simultaneously.”

While the future of the original Switch in other regions remains uncertain, the decade-old console continues to see significant first-party game releases, including titles like Rhythm Heaven Grove and Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream.