Nintendo to Sell a Switch 2 With a User-Replaceable Battery in Europe This Autumn as EU Rules End Original Switch Sales in February 2027
Nintendo will roll out revised hardware with swappable batteries in Europe and stop selling the original Switch family from mid-February 2027.
Overview
Nintendo has confirmed that it will begin selling revised versions of its hardware in Europe fitted with user-replaceable batteries, starting with Joy-Con controllers this summer and the Nintendo Switch 2 console in the autumn. According to the company’s official support notice, “Starting from 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.” In parallel, the original Nintendo Switch family will be phased out of the region entirely.
What We Know
The move responds to a European Union battery law. As Video Games Chronicle explains, “In 2023, the European Union passed a new regulation called the EU Batteries Legislation, which requires consumer products with built-in batteries to make these batteries easily removable and replaceable starting from 2027.” Kotaku similarly reports that in 2023 the European Commission “voted on a resolution that requires all portable electronics sold in the region to have user-replaceable batteries.” Engadget notes that Nintendo is making the change “to comply with new European Union rules that stipulate certain devices must make it easy for users to replace the battery.”
Rather than a single launch, Nintendo has laid out a staggered rollout in its support notice. Revised Joy-Con pairs in selected colours arrive in summer 2026, the revised Switch 2 console in autumn 2026, and the revised Joy-Con 2 pair and Switch 2 Pro Controller in winter 2026, with N64 and GameCube controllers for Switch 2 following in early 2027. Nintendo states that “There is no difference in functionality between current products and revised products containing user-replaceable batteries.”
The redesign carries small hardware trade-offs. Per Nintendo’s specifications, the revised console’s battery capacity drops to 5172mAh from 5220mAh, described as “approximately 1% smaller than current version.” The console’s weight rises to approximately 411g from approximately 401g, and to approximately 548g from approximately 534g with Joy-Con 2 controllers attached. Engadget frames the same figures as a roughly 1 percent battery reduction and a system “around 10g (0.4oz) heavier than the current model,” while Nintendo Life notes the combined package is “around 14g heavier than current version.”
The original Switch line will not be redesigned to comply. Nintendo’s notice states that “From mid-February 2027, almost ten years after Nintendo Switch launched in March 2017, Nintendo will no longer sell to retailers hardware in the Nintendo Switch family of systems.” Engadget reports that Nintendo “will stop selling Switch consoles in Europe and some other markets in February 2027, weeks shy of the system’s 10th anniversary,” and Kotaku notes Nintendo instead “says it will offer a regulation-compliant model of the Switch 2 starting later this year.”
What We Don’t Know
Nintendo has not detailed how difficult the batteries will be to swap in practice, nor whether pricing for the revised European hardware will differ from current models. The company has not said whether it will bring user-replaceable-battery revisions to markets outside Europe, where the EU regulation does not apply. It is also unclear how remaining stock of the original Switch, Switch Lite, and Switch OLED will be handled at retail as the February 2027 cutoff approaches.
Analysis
The announcement is one of the first concrete cases of a major games-hardware maker restructuring a flagship product line to meet the EU’s removable-battery mandate. Nintendo’s choice to revise the newer Switch 2 while retiring the near-decade-old original Switch rather than re-engineering it underscores how the regulation reshapes end-of-life decisions for long-running consumer electronics. The trade-offs disclosed so far are modest, a roughly 1 percent smaller battery and a few extra grams of weight, suggesting compliance can be met without a fundamental redesign, though the broader question of whether these revisions will extend beyond Europe remains open.