The Nintendo Switch will soon no longer be available for sale: Nintendo is pulling the plug on its iconic console, and it’s very bad news.
Since its unveiling more than a year ago, the Nintendo Switch 2 has sparked heated debate. Among the topics that prospective buyers discuss, the question of the console’s exclusives — which are few and far between, with the notable exceptions of Pokémon Pokopia, Donkey Kong Bananza, and Mario Kart World — remains a point of contention. In addition, the recent price increase hasn’t sat well with buyers: starting in September, in Europe, it will cost €499 (up from €469).
Yet these drawbacks have not slowed the device’s sales one bit. To date, the Nintendo Switch 2 has moved 19.86 million units and is closing in on twenty million. In a year, that is a truly colossal figure. And it’s likely to pick up speed in the years ahead: Nintendo has announced a drastic measure, and it’s frankly unfortunate (even if we sort of saw it coming).
The End of an Era at Nintendo
The information was posted on the Japanese company’s official site: the Nintendo Switch will continue to be produced in its classic, Lite, and OLED versions throughout 2026, but it will no longer be sold to European distributors starting in mid-February 2027. Released in March 2017, the console will thus have had a ten-year lifespan in Europe. But why such a sudden halt? This decision follows a new EU regulation governing batteries.
In February, a regulation will come into effect across the EU requiring manufacturers of electronic devices to make batteries more easily replaceable (though not necessarily removable). The Japanese company has already stated that it will comply with this rule for the Switch 2 (after all, it doesn’t really have a choice). However, it has no intention of applying the same constraint to the original Switch, across all versions.
That decision was anticipated, but it remains frankly debatable: while the Switch 2 is about to cost nearly €500 in the European Union, the company is effectively excluding a segment of consumers. Today, the original version of the console sits around €300 with retailers. The Lite is available for under €200 in many places (€219 if you buy it at full price). Between this more economical model and the Switch 2, the price gap is almost a two-to-one difference.
That’s a strange message from Nintendo: if you’re short on cash, you basically won’t have a Switch.
It’s even odder when you consider that, despite 156 million units sold worldwide, the Switch still sells. It could very well top 160 million and surpass the PlayStation 2, becoming the best-selling console in history.
So what should we take away from all of this? Expect Nintendo to push the Switch 2 even harder. This announcement follows a broadly encouraging Nintendo Direct, driven largely by the reveal of a remake of the cult classic The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. We can anticipate blockbuster sales numbers for both the console and the game, with the release likely aligned with the holiday season.
As for the original Switch, Nintendo wants to reassure consumers: the company believes there will be no shortage of Switch units in the coming year, and some will still be on sale after February 2027, until stock runs dry. So there’s no need to rush, at least for now.
