Nintendo will stop selling the original Switch, Switch Lite, and Switch OLED in Europe from mid-February 2027, bringing the console's European run to a close just weeks shy of its tenth anniversary. The company laid out the plan in a support post, explaining that from summer 2026 it will begin replacing selected products in Europe on a rolling basis with revisions containing user-replaceable batteries, ahead of new regulations taking effect on February 18, 2027. Nintendo stressed there is "no difference in functionality between current products and revised products containing user-replaceable batteries."
The Regulation Behind It
The change stems from a 2023 EU law requiring portable electronic devices, including handheld gaming consoles, to allow consumers to swap out batteries themselves using commonly available tools, without needing professional help or specialised equipment. The rules are designed to extend product lifespans and cut electronic waste, and they apply to devices sold after the February 2027 cutoff rather than retroactively. That last point matters for existing owners: anyone who already owns a Switch, or buys one before the deadline, is entirely unaffected and needs to do nothing.
As expected, Nintendo has opted not to engineer a compliant version of the original Switch. Rather than redesign nearly decade-old hardware, it is meeting the regulation through the Switch 2 and its accessories instead. The original consoles will continue to be manufactured throughout 2026 and should remain widely available in Europe all year, with units already in retail channels sellable until stock runs dry. From mid-February 2027, Nintendo simply stops supplying them to retailers and ends sales through its own store.
What Gets Revised, and What Gets Retired
The Switch 2 is the headline product being updated, with a revised console expected through Nintendo Store in Europe this autumn. The changes are modest but real: battery capacity drops slightly from 5,220mAh to 5,172mAh, roughly a 1% reduction, while weight climbs from around 401g to 411g, or about 548g with Joy-Con 2 attached. Revised Joy-Con controllers arrive first this summer, with Joy-Con 2 controllers, the Switch 2 Pro Controller, and select Nintendo Switch Online controllers following through winter and early 2027. Nintendo will also sell battery replacement kits for each revised product via its European store. Availability will vary by country, and timings could shift with manufacturing and distribution.
Several products won't get compliant revisions at all and will be phased out in Europe once stock is exhausted, including the original Switch, Switch Lite, and Switch OLED, plus the Switch Pro Controller, the NES and SNES Controllers for Switch, the SEGA Mega Drive Control Pad, and Pokémon GO Plus +.
A European-Only Sunset, For Now
This is a regional decision rather than a global one. Nintendo confirmed it plans to continue selling the Switch outside the territories Nintendo of Europe covers, with no announced discontinuation in North America or Japan. That said, with the Switch 2 transition well underway and manufacturing costs climbing across the industry, a broader wind-down of one of the best-selling consoles ever made feels less like a question of if than when. Existing Switch owners retain full access to their game libraries, accessories, the eShop, and Nintendo Switch Online, which Nintendo says will all continue "for the foreseeable future."
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