A forward‑looking state‑of‑the‑platform guide for new Nintendo Switch 2 owners, covering Joy‑Con 2 hardware, eShop trends, file sizes for Animal Crossing: New Horizons – Switch 2 Edition and Trails Beyond the Horizon, plus how upcoming online maintenance could affect you.
If you have a Nintendo Switch 2 on preorder or just brought one home, the ecosystem is already busy enough that it can feel hard to track where to start. New Joy‑Con 2 hardware colors are going up, huge cross‑gen releases are looming, and the eShop charts are shifting toward upgraded editions that can chew through your internal storage.
This guide pulls together today’s scattered Switch 2 news into one early adopter snapshot so you can decide what to buy first and how to prep your storage for the next year.
Joy‑Con 2: Light Purple / Light Green For Day‑One Customization
Nintendo is quietly building out the second‑generation Joy‑Con 2 lineup, and the latest set is a light purple / light green combo clearly aimed at people who want their Switch 2 to feel personal right away.
Compared to the launch‑day gray and classic neon colorways, these new Joy‑Con 2 units matter for two reasons. First, they broaden the color options for anyone looking to keep one set docked and another paired to a second profile or guest account. Second, they signal that Nintendo is treating Joy‑Con 2 as a living accessory line just like the original controllers on Switch.
For early adopters, that means if you are planning a family setup or lots of local multiplayer in games like Mario Kart World or Super Mario Party Jamboree, locking in a second pair now is sensible. These color sets tend to rotate in and out of stock, and today’s preorder windows are often the best time to avoid paying a markup later.
From a feature perspective, Joy‑Con 2 does not radically alter the basic template. You still get detachable controllers, motion support and HD Rumble style feedback. The difference is refinement and compatibility with the Switch 2’s more demanding games and wireless environment. Think of the light purple / light green pair less as a luxury cosmetic and more as an early investment in having enough controllers around once your library fills with local co‑op hits.
What The eShop Charts Say About The Switch 2 Library
The current Switch 2 eShop charts give a good picture of what most owners are playing and what they are preparing their storage for.
On the overall “All Games” chart for the week of January 11, 2026, the Animal Crossing: New Horizons Upgrade Pack is already sitting at the top spot before its update even lands. That is driven almost entirely by preloads and shows how aggressively players are leaning into enhanced versions of familiar games.
Just below Animal Crossing you see Nintendo’s first‑party slate defining the platform. Donkey Kong Bananza, Pokémon Legends: Z‑A – Nintendo Switch 2 Edition, Mario Kart World and Kirby Air Riders all sit high in the rankings. Metroid Prime 4: Beyond – Switch 2 Edition and Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment round out a lineup that leans heavily on established brands, but almost always in upgraded or expanded form.
The charts further down make it clear that Switch 2 Editions and Upgrade Packs are not a niche. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom both appear in Switch 2 Edition and upgrade forms, as do Super Mario Party Jamboree and several Kirby titles. Third‑party support looks strong, with entries like EA Sports FC 26, Cyberpunk 2077, Assassin’s Creed Shadows, Hogwarts Legacy and Red Dead Redemption – Switch 2 Edition all charting based on digital sales alone.
The download‑only chart paints the other half of the picture. Here, Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time – Switch 2 Edition leads the pack followed by Hades 2 – Switch 2 Edition and Stardew Valley – Switch 2 Edition. No Man’s Sky and Skyrim Anniversary Edition also rank highly, proving that players are using Switch 2 as a home for large, evergreen games instead of just short pick‑up‑and‑play titles.
For a new owner, the takeaway is that the Switch 2 catalog is not just about brand‑new exclusives. It is about deciding where you want your long‑term library to live. If you skipped some of these games on the original Switch, buying the Switch 2 Editions will give you better performance, sharper image quality and often extra features. If you already own them and are eyeing upgrade packs, those smaller purchases can still add up fast in terms of storage.
Storage Planning: Animal Crossing & Trails Beyond The Horizon File Sizes
The other side of the early adopter equation is data. Switch 2 has more capable hardware and that shows up immediately in the file sizes on the eShop.
Based on current eShop listings compiled by Nintendo‑focused trackers, The Legend of Heroes: Trails Beyond the Horizon on Switch 2 weighs in at roughly 25.6 GB. That single RPG will take a large chunk of the system’s built‑in memory, especially if you are also preloading other big games.
Animal Crossing: New Horizons – Nintendo Switch 2 Edition has a smaller footprint than a massive RPG like Trails, but it is still large enough that combining it with an upgrade pack, any DLC and typical day‑one updates will push you closer to the limits of the internal drive than the original Switch versions did. Pair that with another multi‑gigabyte staple like No Man’s Sky or Skyrim and suddenly the default storage looks very cramped.
The key lesson for an early adopter is that you should treat an SD card as part of the console’s price, not an optional accessory. If Trails Beyond the Horizon and a couple of high‑end Switch 2 Editions are on your wishlist, factor that 25.6 GB figure into your plans and assume future RPGs and cinematic action games will meet or exceed it.
If you are mostly interested in smaller eShop titles and retro collections, you can be more conservative, but the modern Switch 2 ecosystem is clearly leaning toward larger, denser games that make fuller use of the hardware.
How Online Maintenance Affects Early Adopters
Alongside new downloads and updates, Nintendo’s network maintenance schedule is something Switch 2 owners should keep an eye on, especially if your gaming time is limited to specific nights.
Nintendo’s current maintenance calendar for Switch and Switch 2 includes several sessions that touch core online services. These sessions typically affect online play, eShop access or cloud features for a short window. In practice, that means you might not be able to hop into online matches, download preorders or redeem new purchases while the work is happening.
The important thing for early adopters is to build a habit of checking those notices before major releases hit or before planning online sessions with friends. If you are counting on a preload finishing overnight for something like Animal Crossing’s Switch 2 Edition or Trails Beyond the Horizon, a scheduled maintenance window can slow or pause that download.
You generally will not need to do anything special once maintenance is complete. Services come back automatically and any interrupted downloads resume. But if you are trying to stress‑test your new hardware with online games, knowing the schedule will save you from thinking something is wrong with your console when it is really just planned downtime.
Buying Strategy For The First Six Months
Pull these threads together and the emerging picture of Switch 2 in early 2026 is a platform shaped by upgraded editions, big RPGs and a more demanding online infrastructure.
If you are just now joining the ecosystem, the clearest path is to decide which pillar matters most to you and buy around it. If you want to live inside Animal Crossing again and plan to put hundreds of hours into your island, prioritize the Switch 2 Edition, its upgrade pack and a controller setup that feels comfortable for long handheld sessions. If you are here for deep single‑player RPGs like Trails Beyond the Horizon, start with a generous SD card and leave room for at least one or two more games of similar size.
For players who care most about local and online multiplayer, invest early in extra Joy‑Con 2 sets like the new light purple / light green combination so that your system is ready when your friends are. Keep a close watch on the maintenance schedule before big play nights, and remember that many of the chart‑topping games are long‑term platforms in their own right, from Mario Kart World to Hades 2.
The state of the platform today suggests that Switch 2 is built to be a long‑haul machine. Planning storage, controllers and your digital library choices early will make the jump from the original Switch smoother and give you a system that feels ready for whatever Nintendo and third‑party studios ship next.