While Nintendo talked a bunch about the Switch 2 Edition paid upgrades of a select few original Switch games, there’s also some titles that will be getting free upgrades to support the Nintendo Switch 2.
“Free updates to improve playability on the Nintendo Switch 2 system will be released for select Nintendo Switch games,” Nintendo states.
“By connecting your Nintendo Switch 2 to the internet, you can download free updates that may improve performance or add support for features such as GameShare in select games. The contents of these free updates will differ depending on the game.”
These updates will work on multiple levels. Simplistically, they can offer visual improvements through higher resolutions and improved frame rates – this will be a boon for both The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening and Echoes of Wisdom, not to mention Pokémon Scarlet and Violet – but there are also patches to enable GameShare for titles with multiplayer.
GameShare lets a single copy of a game be used to share multiplayer access to other consoles, both locally for Switch and Switch 2 devices, and through GameChat for Switch 2. This is great for when you just want to each have your own personal screen instead of sharing a TV, games where all players might have different viewpoints and camera angles, and more. See here for more details for how GameShare works on Nintendo Switch 2.
- ARMS
- Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker – GameShare
- Super Mario Odyssey– GameShare
- Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury– GameShare
- Clubhouse Games: 51 Worldwide Classics– GameShare
- The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening
- The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom
- Game Builder Garage
- New Super Mario Bros U Deluxe
- Pokémon Scarlet and Violet
- Big Brain Academy: Brain vs. Brain – GameShare
The distinction between a free update and a Switch 2 Edition paid upgrade seems to be whether or not Nintendo is adding significant content to their games. Super Mario Party Jamboree and Kirby and the Forgotten Land are both getting major content expansions, while the improvements for Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom extend to HDR support and Switch Online app support (and these updates can be had when bundled in with Switch Online + Expansion Pack). Cross-gen games like Metroid Prime 4 are more straightforward.
For the free upgrades, they could be as simple as lifting the dynamic resolution bounds and any frame rate caps to let the Switch 2 stretch its legs. We’d love to see similar for games with iffy visual quality and frame rates on the original Switch, like Xenoblade Chronicles 2.
All of this means that third party developers are free to choose their own path. 2K are going down the paid upgrade path for Civilization 7, but other developers will no doubt choose free patches.
Source: Nintendo
