Turns out that some of your Switch games will automatically run better on Switch 2, no $10 add-on required

By now, the Switch 2 has made its way into the hands of fans worldwide. We even watched our editor João Carrasqueira get his console delivered live on a team call, and there was much rejoicing. So, now that the newest console is sitting snugly in its dock, it's time to see how well it plays games.

During the Switch 2 preview era, we saw that some original Switch games would get a special Switch 2 variant that usually adds more content as DLC. If you own the game on Switch, you can upgrade it to the Switch 2 version with an add-on that generally costs around $10-20. So, people naturally concluded that Switch games will require a paid upgrade to take advantage of the Switch 2 hardware.

However, we're seeing reports that claim the Switch 2 automatically bumps up the performance of original Switch games with no additional purchases or subscriptions. If this is true, Switch fans may have just gotten a big upgrade to their Switch library without paying a cent.

Some Switch games are getting a free performance boost on the Switch 2

The first piece of evidence we've seen comes from Digital Foundry on YouTube. They tried two games on the Switch 2 that didn't run great on the original hardware: Batman: Arkham Knight and The Witcher 3. Batman will occasionally dip under 20 FPS on the original Switch, but manages to hold around the 30 FPS mark on the Switch 2.

The Witcher 3 hovers around the 25FPS mark on the original console, while the newer console keeps it steady at 30FPS; however, because the Switch 2 doesn't have to lean on upscaling as hard as the Switch does, you also get crisper visuals on the Switch 2 version.

The second piece of evidence comes to us via KRiSX on the Nintendo Switch subreddit. In a thread titled "Free enhancements are a thing!," they explain their findings:

I’ve just been testing a couple random games that I know run poorly on Switch, namely Fairy Tail and Lollipop Chainsaw and holy crap the performance increase in insane.

Fairy Tail runs around 20fps I believe (or less, it’s very bad), but on Switch 2 it easily looks like 60.

Not sure what Lollipop runs at normally, but it’s kinda rough in spots and now seems very smooth!

[...]

I was hoping and expecting this would be a thing and I’m pleased to say it is, you won’t get visual upgrades, but the smoother framerate is very welcome

They go on to explain that some games, such as Xenoblade 2, Doom 2016, and Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity, now run with a solid 30 FPS cap. Meanwhile, titles like Dragon Quest Builders 2 is a "night and day difference" with an uncapped framerate.

As such, it appears that backward compatibility either comes with a 30 FPS cap or no cap. From my guess, it seems that more graphically-intense games get the 30 FPS cap, albeit it will reliably run at that rate. Meanwhile, games that are easier to render have the caps taken off and are allowed to roam free.

It's worth noting that all of these reports come from simply slotting the Switch game into the Switch 2. There were no additional fees involved, and they didn't subscribe to any special plan. And while it's still very early days to conclusively declare that every Switch game will get a performance boost, things look promising.