After almost ten years of release, the original Nintendo Switch will disappear from European stores next year. Blame the new EU regulation on batteries, not the Switch 2.
Nintendo will stop selling every version of the original Switch in Europe from mid-February 2027. “The Verge” reported on this. This falls just weeks before the console’s tenth birthday. Support covers Switch, Switch Lite and more Switch to OLED model. Sales to retailers and through the Nintendo Store will end.
Blame the battery regulations
New EU regulation prompts change. From February 18, 2027, portable devices sold in bulk must allow owners to replace their own batteries. Starting this summer, Nintendo will retire the current models and introduce redesigned models to match them. It promises “no difference in functionality” between the old and new versions.
The Switch 2 is undergoing its biggest overhaul yet. A version with a user-replaceable battery should hit stores in the fall, Engadget reports. The exchanges are small. New battery It takes 5,172 mAh versus 5,220 mAh, a decrease of about 1 percent, and the console gains about 10 g. Redesigned Joy-Con controllers, Switch 2 Pro Controller, and N64 and GameCube pads follow in sequence.
What Nintendo is dropping
Not everything survives the transition. Nintendo will retire the original Switch Pro Controller, Sega Mega Drive and SNES pads, and the Pokémon Go Plus+ accessory. None of them get a replaceable battery successor. The rules apply in the 35 markets Nintendo of Europe serves, from the UK and Germany to Saudi Arabia and South Africa.
💜 of EU technology
The latest rumblings from the EU tech scene, a story from our wise founder Boris and some questionable AI art. Free in your inbox every week. Register now!
Quiet ending for now
Nintendo has not said whether the losses will extend beyond Europe. Discontinuing obsolete equipment everywhere can be tempting given the upside production costs and switching to Switch 2. Nevertheless, the old car still has life. Fresh first-party games are still on the way, including Rhythm Heaven Groove and Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream.
The battery regulations first targeted at phones. Now they will quietly close the book on one of the best-selling game consoles in their region.
