In line with upcoming European changes to battery legislation, Nintendo has announced that the Switch 2 will be altered slightly for European consumers and has outlined the changes and reasoning.
A new Nintendo Switch 2 with an updated screen was recently discovered, showing that Nintendo is certainly eyeing up some different and improved Switch 2 models for the future. But we know for sure that the European Switch 2 models will be tweaked moving forward.
Summer 2026 Sees New Nintendo Switch 2 Update for Europe
This follows on from the recent story about Nintendo announcing new Switch 2 hardware with replaceable batteries.
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Here’s Nintendo‘s full statement about the changes:
‘Starting summer 2026, in preparation for upcoming changes in European battery regulations coming into effect in mid-February 2027, selected Nintendo products in Europe will begin to be replaced on a rolling basis by revisions that contain a user-replaceable battery. There is no difference in functionality between current products and revised products containing user-replaceable batteries.
The first revised products are expected to become available from summer 2026, with additional products becoming available in autumn, winter, and early 2027. Due to a variety of factors, revised products may not become available in all European countries simultaneously.
The table below shows the estimated earliest availability in Nintendo Store, although please note that these timings may change depending on manufacturing, distribution, and other factors. Availability at retailers may also vary, so please check with your local retailers in the future for more information.’
The new console will feature a 5172mAh battery, which is ‘approximately 1% smaller than the current version (5220mAh).’ Its Joy-Con 2 controllers have user-replaceable batteries, too.
There are also incremental changes to the weight and size of the Nintendo Switch 2 Pro Controller, Nintendo 64 (N64) Controller for Nintendo Switch, and Nintendo GameCube (GCN) Controller for Nintendo Switch 2 batteries.
So, it shouldn’t really affect anyone. What are you enjoying most about the Switch 2? Let us know via the official Insider Gaming Discord Server.
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Andy is Insider Gaming's Senior Evergreen Editor and has been in the games journalism sphere in one way or another for over 7 years. His video game taste is as…
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