Switch 2 consoles are now out in the wild, but Nintendo has a safeguard in place to stop people from playing the console before launch.
We’re just over a week away from the Switch 2’s launch on Thursday, June 5 and some retailers have already received stock in advance of the big day.
Like all console launches, the problem with sending stock to retailers is that it virtually ensures that leaks will happen – especially as some shops appear to be leaving Switch 2 consoles in public view.
It turns out, Nintendo has concocted a plan to counter this concern, by making the console useless until a day one patch is released.
This detail was confirmed after someone on YouTube posted a video showing them unboxing the Switch 2 console. The video has since been taken down (although it’s been shared elsewhere), but in the comments, they claimed the console is ‘locked’ and ‘needs update to function’.
Someone else supported this claim to gaming deals guru Wario64, stating that when they try to boot up an original Switch game on the Switch 2, a message reads: ‘Please connect to the internet and update your system.’
While it’s unclear if this update is required in order to play Switch 2 games, it’s safe to assume that’s the case considering no leaked footage of Mario Kart World has (at the time of writing, at least) made its way online.
If there are restrictions on how Switch 2 works without online connectivity then that is going to be very poorly received by fans, but that would be quite out of keeping with Nintendo’s usual approach.
So far there’s no indication that physical copies of games need any kind of online connection to work but no one’s going to know for sure until next week.
It’s possible the update mentioned is tied to backwards compatibility. Nintendo has already said some original Switch games, including Doom Eternal and Pizza Tower, require an update to function on the Switch 2, which will be rolled out ‘by launch or shortly after’.
Either way, whether intentional or not, this seems to mean that anyone who does get a Switch 2 before launch won’t be able to play the system early.
Aside from Mario Kart World, the Switch 2’s launch line-up includes Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour, Cyberpunk 2077: Ultimate Edition, Split Fiction, and many others.
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