Why Are We Panicking About the Switch 2?

Major games media platforms and fans alike seemed convinced that the Nintendo Switch 2 is in trouble. Not even a year into its release, despite breaking sales records, and aside from the fact that it is a souped-up version of the Nintendo Switch, the company’s best-selling console as of 2026, you’d think the platform was in crisis. We can’t quite quantify sentiment online, nor can we make generalizations about the whole of the games community, but why are we panicking about the Switch 2?

There’s no point in denying that the Switch 2 launch has been a little less than a straightforward string of wins for the company. Tariff concerns spurred by the Trump Administration in the United States, as well as the reports that sales of the console outside of Japan are slightly weaker than anticipated, have forced Nintendo to sit in a position of uncertainty throughout the six months of their flagship hardware. After moving 3.5 million units in four days after launch, the console has moved just about the same number of consoles since. The PS5, with plenty of production issues to count for, sold just about a million more than that in its entire first fiscal year of launching its new platform.

There was a pandemic, supply chain issues, and plenty of other factors that Sony faced that don’t make this a direct comparison, but like Nintendo, external factors to the games industry were playing a role in its sales figures. We’re at the point now that each of the three console hardware manufacturers are sort of playing their own game. You’ll notice I didn’t even bring up Xbox sales figures for its Series X and Series S consoles. Microsoft and Sony have different approaches to serving their core audience, just like the house of Mario does. When we look at Nintendo in a vacuum, I’m failing to see why everyone is so concerned with how things have begun for its latest console.

The Switch 2 is getting exclusives, including expanded and enhanced versions of hit Switch titles, while many games still come to both platforms. It’s a smart move on Nintendo’s part, considering the casual consumer that jumped on the Nintendo bandwagon likely doesn’t care about things like enhanced FPS or mouse mode, two of the features we see touted most often in Switch 2 versions of games on both generations of the Switch ecosystem. Donkey Kong Bananza and Mario Kart World might not be the Tears of the Kingdom and Super Mario Odyssey 1-2 punch we experienced in 2017, but anyone sitting around waiting for history to repeat itself is bound to be disappointed in games media.

The industry is rapidly changing, and the change is going to continue as PC gaming peripherals become more mainstream. With these PC handhelds, we’ll also see the cost of entry into the games space rise. Nintendo didn’t put out a powerful Switch predecessor for $450 because it aimed to compete with the ROG Allys of the world. It offered its players something better and more capable, solving for easily the biggest complaint about the Switch hardware even three years after its release. If the Switch 2 library of games isn’t resonating with you yet, I’d say that’s perfectly fine and subjective to you. Bananza, World, and Switch 2 versions of a Pokémon game, as well as the long-awaited release of Metroid Prime 4 in a single year, are far from a lineup of disappointment on paper.

So, what is it? Are expectations too high? Is Nintendo releasing good but not great games out of the gate so far? Do we even have any idea why the Switch 2 is talked about like a sick puppy, apart from the fact that sentiment surrounding the games industry is almost always plagued by its most outraged and upset voices? People complaining on the internet isn’t the issue; that’s the climate we’ve created when we talk about games on social media or forums. I genuinely think that rather than disappointment, Switch 2 criticism is the product of poor reflection on what success means for video game companies in 2026. Like the shareholders seeking record profit margins as the threshold between catastrophe and mild satisfaction, fans alike have mirrored this boom or bust knee-jerking while claiming the companies are unfair.

I don’t have a dog in this fight, and I don’t carry water for a single games company. I just wonder if, at the end of the day, we can’t accept the first 7 and a half months of the Switch 2’s lifecycle as successful, and not a limp that indicates we’ll have to put it down sooner than expected. Have we lost the plot of games criticism and critique? Game review media and the discourse it manufactures helps the industry as a whole clue into what players want to experience from this art form. I want to see it continue to thrive. At the end of the day, that means thinking critically, not operating on vibes and feelings, and accepting that sometimes, just because your car isn’t squeaky clean and shiny, it’s not a total beater either.