Nintendo confirms that the new SWITCH 2 is sold in the EU.

Nintendo plans to launch 2 hardware switch versions in the EU that allow users to easily replace the battery. In order to comply with its obligations under a new EU regulation to enter into force on 18 February 2027, Nintendo declares on its website that it implements ‘measures to meet these requirements by preparing versions of products that comply with the Regulation’.

Nintendo confirms that it will sell a new Switch 2 with replaceable battery in the EU

It will be available from February 2027 when new EU regulations enter into force.

Thanks to the EU regulations, devices with batteries interchangeable by the user experience a comeback, as my colleague Dominic Preston recently wrote. From that date in February 2027, EU rules require that many types of devices, including portable game consoles, allow users to remove and replace their batteries relatively easily.

Nintendo does not specify exactly what this new version of Switch 2 will change to facilitate battery change – currently removing the battery in the switch 2 is a complex, multistage process, as iFixit shows. It is also unclear whether a revised model with replaceable battery will be available in other regions. Nintendo did not reply immediately to a request for a comment.

On its website, Nintendo says: “For up-to-date products with model numbers starting with “BEE” – which are used with the switch 2, as is apparent from Nintendo’s submissions at FCC – “ future compliant versions will have unique model numbers and the additional code “OSM” that is visible on the packaging and identifies them as separate products for regulatory reasons.” Switch 2 controllers like the Pro Controller and the Joy-Cons also bear the name BEE, and we asked Nintendo whether they will also have batteries that can be exchanged by the user.