Nintendo’s February Partner Direct was a value proposition for the Switch 2

Nintendo’s February Partner Direct was a standout showcase. No, it didn’t have any major announcements or reveals. The Duskbloods and Elden Ring: Tarnished Edition remain absent, and I’m growing more certain that Persona 6 is just a collective fever dream. But the showcase quietly presented a forceful statement about the Switch 2’s value. Nintendo isn’t just continuing the original Switch’s legacy of strong third-party support. It’s positioning the Switch 2 as one of the best values in an increasingly costly entertainment market.

The Partner Direct included announcements for things like Indiana Jones and the Great Circle and Granblue Fantasy Relink coming to Switch 2, alongside a (surprisingly not horrible) first look at Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth gameplay on the hybrid console. There was yet another glimpse at how well Resident Evil Requiem and Pragmata will run on it. And there was even a Switch 2-exclusive indie, the fantastic looking co-op game Orbitals.

Why, Nintendo seemed to be saying, would you need to buy a PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series X when you could have it all and then some with the Switch 2?

Polygon asked Circana research director Mat Piscatella if this emphasis on more third-party games — and games that were previously exclusive to other current-gen consoles — was a well-timed response to a degrading global economy. Piscatella said in an email that, while it’s tough to say whether this positioning will benefit Nintendo to a noticeable extent as people look for ways to save money, it certainly won’t hurt.

“Nintendo hardware has always been purchased to play Nintendo games first and foremost, and that hasn’t changed with Switch 2,” Piscatella said. “However, having the 3rd-party support we’re seeing for Switch 2 is certainly a big plus for the system, particularly because of its hybrid nature.”

Piscatella noted that this level of third-party support helps the Switch 2 stay competitive with PS5 and Xbox, but also with PC storefronts and the still-nascent handheld PC market. Not that the Switch 2 needs much help. Circana’s data showed that of the console’s top 10 best-selling games in 2025, only one of them was a third-party release.

However, people who aren’t in the top 10% of earners (most of us, in other words) are spending less and being more circumspect with what they do spend. Circana data showed that almost half of PS5 sales and more than 60% of Xbox sales in 2025 were consoles that didn’t include a disc drive. The all-digital Series X is roughly $50 cheaper than the standard black version that comes with a disc drive; the digital PS5 console used to be $100 cheaper than the standard, though even after tariff-influenced price increases, it’s still about $50 less expensive as well.

Image: Capcom

People are looking to save, in other words, and publishers are looking for ways to earn more than ever and make up for ballooning development costs. Sony is putting its games on PC and earning quite a lot from it (though there’s no indication a first-party Sony game will end up on Xbox or Switch 2). And Microsoft is demanding outrageously high profit margins from its developers, hence the recent push to put as much as possible on other platforms.

Sure, a lot of the ports resulting from these efforts are just “old” games. But “high-quality ports of some of the biggest hits of the last five years and with the convenience of portable play” — that’s an attractive prospect for consumers who haven’t bought a PS5 or Xbox Series X or who won’t touch a gaming PC if they can help it. Yes, the Steam Deck exists, but after four years on the market, it’s still sold just a few million units. Nintendo sold 17 million Switch 2 units in six months. Even taking into account Valve’s staggered Steam Deck rollout, that’s still a pretty solid indicator that handheld PC gaming is (and, with price increases looming, will probably remain) a niche market.

Grabbing a Switch 2 to play recent and new games is a much more affordable and approachable option anyway. Granblue Fantasy Relink, for example, already looked smoother and sharper in the brief gameplay footage Cygames showed during the Direct than it does on Steam Deck, and achieving even those middling results on Valve’s handheld requires a fair bit of tinkering. And Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa recently said Nintendo had no plans to raise the Switch 2’s retail price, despite pressure from tariffs and other economic factors (unless conditions deteriorate significantly in the next fiscal year).

Image: Square Enix

There will be games that the Switch 2 just can’t handle, of course. I’d be surprised, for example, if we see glitzy upcoming open-world games like Forza Horizon 6 and Fable end up on the handheld, although if Playground can get them to run on the Xbox Series S, maybe anything’s possible.

But most of the ones that matter, at least in terms of consumer interest, are headed to the Switch 2. The Game Business‘ Christopher Dring compiled a list of 2026’s most anticipated games based on a variety of metrics: Steam wishlist rankings, press and influencer coverage, general engagement, and social media views. Seven of the 10 games are slated for a Switch 2 release, including Resident Evil Requiem, 007: First Light, and ReAnimal. One of them (The Duskbloods) is a Switch 2 exclusive. Only one of the three non-Switch games (Insomniac’s Wolverine) is exclusive to another platform. And that’s not including Nintendo’s first-party games with widespread appeal, like Pokopia and Fire Emblem: Fortune’s Weave.

So my answer when people ask me which console is the better value got a lot more complicated after the Partner Direct. The Switch 2 has limits, naturally, and every major release won’t launch for it. Those that do will probably look better on other platforms, too. But if you want first-party Nintendo games, most of the biggest games from other publishers, and a convenient way to play it all, it’s quickly shaping up to be your best bet.