Nintendo Switch 2 major system update available to download now

A new system update has dropped onto Nintendo Switch 2, improving key aspects of the new hybrid console.

The latest update will make for smoother play on the new Nintendo console, tweaking general settings that will make playing older Switch games feel better than ever.

System software 20.2.0 will be available for fans to download now, if it hasn’t already made its way onto your console, and while the patch notes aren’t particularly extensive, there’s more to it than meets the eye.

The main takeaway for plenty of owners is a fix for parental settings, ensuring that little ones don’t get to see Daddy’s hentai anime slop from the eShop.

“Fixed an issue where Parental Control settings were not transferred from Nintendo Switch to Nintendo Switch 2 in certain circumstances during a system transfer,” says the official patch notes.

The only other note was “General system stability improvements to enhance the user's experience,” which sounds a bit vague, but dataminers and players have tested out exactly how this improves performance.

One dataminer, OatmealDome has been digging into the update and notes that the update “fixes some problems with Switch 1 backwards compatibility.”

They went on to test several games after the update and reported that Portal 2, which previously didn’t run on the Switch 2, now plays well.

This will encourage Switch 2 owners to play more of their older games, particularly those that weren’t on the compatible software list from Nintendo.

It’s hard to know whether this will have any impact on other Switch titles running on the new console without testing them all - you may find a boost in framerates or overall performance.

While the update didn’t add anything groundbreaking, those patches are sure to come once the dust settled on the launch and Nintendo looks to the future.