Nintendo Switch Game Vouchers can’t be used for games coming to the next Nintendo system. The Game Vouchers FAQ page on the company’s official website was updated today with new language that explicitly notes that “Nintendo Switch Game Vouchers cannot be redeemed for games exclusive to the Nintendo Switch 2 system.” Nintendo Switch 2 will be backwards compatible with most games released for the current system, but that obviously won’t go both ways. So you could use a Voucher to buy next month’s Xenoblade Chronicles X Definitive Edition and play it on Switch 2 when the new system is released. However, you wouldn’t be able to use a Voucher for a Switch 2 exclusive, like the new Mario Kart.
Videos by ComicBook.com
The move isn’t too surprising; Nintendo Switch Game Vouchers are designed to save players a little bit of money, while helping Nintendo spur sales of first-party games. Since the company presumably wants to get the maximum profit it can on a highly-anticipated game like Mario Kart, it makes sense to prevent the use of Game Vouchers. It’s possible that could change in the future, once Switch 2 has built up a bigger library of games. Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem like that’s part of Nintendo’s plan at the moment.
At this time, there are a lot of things we don’t know about Nintendo Switch 2 software. The only confirmed first-party game for the system is the new Mario Kart (which doesn’t have an official name yet). A Nintendo Direct will take place on April 2nd, and we can probably expect to see a lot more games featured in that presentation. It’s possible that Mario Kart and another first-party game will launch alongside Nintendo Switch 2, just like we saw when The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and 1-2-Switch released alongside the Switch hardware in 2017. It’s likely that the Nintendo Direct will also offer a glimpse at other games planned for year one. We don’t know what to expect, but it seems like Nintendo’s internal teams have been hard at work on games for the new platform.
Hopefully the Nintendo Switch 2 era will see a steady stream of exclusive games. One of the big highlights of the Switch era is that the system played host to near monthly releases from Nintendo. That’s basically unheard of in the video game industry right now, and it’s helped Switch stand out from its competitors. Nintendo Switch Game Vouchers helped to ease the financial sting for a lot of fans, as did the Gold Points program, but that’s coming to an end next month.
RELATED: Nintendo President Addresses Whether U.S. Tariffs Will Raise Switch 2 Price
With fewer options to trim the cost of games than ever before, hopefully Nintendo will make up for these losses with some strong quality. Fans are very excited to see what the company is cooking up for Nintendo Switch 2, from the software, to the hardware itself. We’re still over a month away from the big reveal, but the company’s plans for 2025 are finally starting to come into focus.
Are you disappointed that you won’t be able to use Vouchers on Nintendo Switch 2 games? Were you a fan of the Voucher program? Share your thoughts with me directly on Bluesky atย @Marcdachamp, or on Instagram atย @Dachampgaming!
