Nintendo rolled out System Version 21.1.0 for the Switch 2 this week, and it’s one of those small-but-useful updates that quietly smooths out a few rough edges. Two distinct threads run through this release: a couple of quality-of-life tweaks to HDR picture controls, and another wave of backwards-compatibility fixes that restore (or improve) the Switch-era library on Nintendo’s new hardware.
The HDR changes are the kind of thing you notice only if you fiddle with display settings, but they matter. When you adjust brightness in HDR mode, pressing Y now shows a live Peak Brightness value — handy for anyone calibrating their display or chasing consistent results across TVs. Nintendo also lowered the default brightness used for HDR diffuse white levels, which should give many users a better-looking image straight away without manual fiddling.
What changed in HDR
- Press Y while changing brightness to display the Peak Brightness value in real time.
- The HDR diffuse white level’s default brightness has been reduced to produce a more natural picture out of the box.
- Blade of Darkness
- Game Dev Story++
- Little Nightmares: Complete Edition
- Miitopia
- Moji Yuugi
- Resident Evil 4
- Solid Void – Nature Puzzles
- Sports Party
- Streets of Rage 4
- Venture Towns
If you’ve been hunting for small ways to improve how games look on your Switch 2, those two tweaks make calibration less fiddly and reduce the chance of blown-out highlights when HDR content is handled by the console.
Backwards-compatibility: a tidy list of fixes
Alongside the system update, Nintendo marked a new batch of Switch titles as fully compatible with Switch 2. Some were more than mere checkbox fixes — Resident Evil 4 and Miitopia, both high-profile for different reasons, had previously exhibited issues (Miitopia with odd textures, Resident Evil 4 with stability and visual quirks) that should now be resolved.
This week’s compatibility updates include:
Nintendo also flagged one title as currently broken on Switch 2: A Hat in Time is experiencing progression issues and won’t reliably finish. The company says it’s aware and may patch it in the future.
These fixes continue a steady cadence of compatibility work that has been ongoing since the Switch 2’s launch. Nintendo’s longer-term push to smooth third‑party performance — and keep its original Switch library playable on new hardware — has helped the console maintain momentum; the company recently raised its Switch 2 forecast as sales surged, a trend that’s kept developers and Nintendo alike focused on polish and compatibility (/news/nintendo-switch-2-sales-surge). That push to keep titles running well ties into the broader release plan Nintendo has been laying out for the platform, where steady support matters as much as big new exclusives (/news/nintendo-switch-2-games-release-plan).
If you play Switch-era games on a Switch 2, it’s worth checking compatibility after each system update — Nintendo’s list changes frequently as issues get patched. For anyone who enjoys tinkering with visuals, the HDR tweaks are a welcome reminder that even minor system updates can make a noticeable difference.