Nintendo Switch 2 Overheats Playing Demanding AAA Games

[AleksandarK]

Since its launch in June 2025, the Nintendo Switch 2 has been a praised and highly sought after handheld for its faster SoC, but a growing number of owners are reporting overheating issues. Early adopters in Japan have taken to social media to describe how even moderately demanding titles such as Splatoon and Pokémon cause their consoles to heat up rapidly. Players say the internal fan spins at maximum speed as the temperature climbs, only for the system to freeze or power down without warning. Most reports come from docked play, where the Switch 2's processor operates at its highest clock speeds. One user recounted experiencing five crashes in a single session of an AAA game, such as Cyberpunk 2077, while the fan maintained a constant roar. However, handheld mode is not immune to this issue.

Several owners emphasize that the device becomes too hot to hold comfortably, and at least one player received an on‑screen message warning of overheating before the console entered sleep mode during a game of Tears of the Kingdom Switch 2 Edition. Similar accounts on Facebook and Reddit suggest this problem is not limited to a specific region. Nintendo's advice to affected users is very scope-limited. The company recommends disconnecting the dock, allowing the console to cool, relocating the dock to a well-ventilated area, ensuring air vents remain clear of dust and debris, and closely monitoring performance. If these basic steps do not resolve the problem, Nintendo advises sending the unit in for professional repair. Despite this issue, demand for the Switch 2 remains high. Nintendo continues to struggle with supply shortages, leading to public apologies from executives.



View at TechPowerUp Main Site | Source

 

[Daven]

Sounds like a typical Nvidia inside product to me.

 

[ThomasK]

Countdown until Nintendo enters damage control mode and blames Nvidia.

 

[JustBenching]

Same crap has been said in the past about the switch oled version. Typical PEBKAC error. This guy was actually trying to make it overheat on purpose by ducttaping everything, didn't manage it

 

[BlaezaLite]

Modern consoles are a joke. All made as cheap as possible and sold at mad prices. I miss my mega drive.

 

[Bomby569]

Modern consoles are a joke. All made as cheap as possible and sold at mad prices. I miss my mega drive.

people have this nostalgic views of the past that isn't really grounded in reality.
Go look how much the mega drive cost at launch and adjust it for inflation, you're in for the same bad surprise your parents probably had when you asked them to buy one. I'll wait

 

[Hecate91]

Go look how much the mega drive cost at launch and adjust it for inflation

The Sega Mega Drive used advanced hardware for the time, as did many consoles, you also owned physical copies of your games.
There isn't any excuse for the high price of the switch 2, it's pure greed from the company that charges you over and over again to play the same classic titles but will hardware ban you for running ROMs you own.

 

[Hyderz]

Here comes downclocking the gpu and cpu and thus performance of games gonna suffer more

 

[Bomby569]

Here comes downclocking the gpu and cpu and thus performance of games gonna suffer more

Realisticly there is no other option, and people that bought the Switch couldn't be expecting the best performance anyway. A couple may actually be clueless first time buyers, but the vast majority knew what they were getting into to.

 

[freeagent]

We bought the first switch just to play the Mario type games, nothing more. That is all Nintendo is to me. For AAA you look to Sony, MS, or PC.. not a Nintendo.

This crap they have been pulling is gross. I have no interest in having one of these in my home.

I guess there is Steam too.. a bit esoteric to me right now.. never seen one before

 

[bonehead123]

And so it begins.....

Can't wait for the finger-pointing, profanity-laden back & forth nitpicking, multiple class action lawsuits, and other assorted media-exacerbated hyperbole....

Fun times in techno world for sure

 

[freeagent]

Fun times in techno world for sure

We literally did it to ourselves. We gave them the power over the years, this is the culmination of it.

 

[LastDudeALive]

This is entirely Nintendo's fault for not bothering to pay a small premium for a node shrink to 5nm. I genuinely have no idea why they didn't, they're going to earn a bazillion $ from $90 games, just shrink the margins on the console a bit so it can have decent power efficiency.

 

[rattlehead99]

people have this nostalgic views of the past that isn't really grounded in reality.
Go look how much the mega drive cost at launch and adjust it for inflation, you're in for the same bad surprise your parents probably had when you asked them to buy one. I'll wait

The inflation argument is dumb, because salaries never keep up with inflation - the rise of cost of everything.
If you had 500$ spare in 2005 chances are you'd have 500$ spare in 2025 at best at the same job position with the same level and years of experience and skill, because all other expenses rose much more than your salary did in the same time frame, with some rare exceptions, for example screens/monitors/TVs which became cheaper.

 

[Hyderz]

This is entirely Nintendo's fault for not bothering to pay a small premium for a node shrink to 5nm. I genuinely have no idea why they didn't, they're going to earn a bazillion $ from $90 games, just shrink the margins on the console a bit so it can have decent power efficiency.

Nintendo probably already breaking even or making a loss on it… if they gonna spend more the switch 2 will be even more expensive than it is now

 

[bonehead123]

We literally did it to ourselves. We gave them the power over the years, this is the culmination of it.

Yea, "WE", as in the silly folks who continue to buy this rehash of a rehash of a previously rehashed garbaggio year after year after year, all for some minuscule "imporvements: in speeds, capacities etc..... and this is what "WE" get in return, hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha....

Just do NOT include me in that crowd, as I have far better things to do with my hard-earned money !

 

[freeagent]

Just do NOT include me in that crowd,

If you don't read the TOS and scroll to the end like I do, then sure, we are part of the problem.

 

[LastDudeALive]

Nintendo probably already breaking even or making a loss on it… if they gonna spend more the switch 2 will be even more expensive than it is now

That's the business model of a modern console, though. It's a loss leader for the ecosystem, and Nintendo has the strongest ecosystem of games by far. Just their catalog of Switch 1 games that are ported absolutely crushes Sony's IP collection, to say nothing of older games that will be available for emulation.

Think of it this way. Let's say that paying extra for a 5nm node shrink means they lose $150 on every Switch 2. If someone just buys BOTW and TOTK, Nintendo's already profitable on the console.

 

[PixelTech]

Not surprised with such an older SoC. Otherwise everything else is pretty modern.

 

[Event Horizon]

Not surprised with such an older SoC. Otherwise everything else is pretty modern.

Add to that the outdated display panel, wifi module, analog sticks, and software. The market doesn't care though.

 

[PixelTech]

Add to that the outdated display panel, wifi module, analog sticks, and software. The market doesn't care though.

no no, those are good enough to call modern today still. kek, can't expect them to put WiFi 7 chips in those things.
Wasn't talking about software.
Analog sticks, well, guess u go buy 3rd party controllers for better ones. Hall Effect sticks are too pricey to mass produce to meet the price target.
The display is outdated? I don't think so. Just business to do IPS for the first version then sell an OLED ver down the line, when sales are dropping after ~2yrs.

 

[BorisDG]

Duh. No issues here.

 

[GodisanAtheist]

The Sega Mega Drive used advanced hardware for the time, as did many consoles, you also owned physical copies of your games.
There isn't any excuse for the high price of the switch 2, it's pure greed from the company that charges you over and over again to play the same classic titles but will hardware ban you for running ROMs you own.

- Thank you for pushing back on the "Inflation, suck it bitches" argument that gets tossed around a lot on tech boards.

Gaming consoles were doing cutting edge stuff that you really couldn't get anywhere else back in the 90's (and earlier). They were purpose built to play games and were dollar for dollar excellent for the purpose vs personal computers etc. until the likes of Nvidia showed up to play. Even then console hardware was still pretty unique and specialized up through the PS3 and X360.

Today you're getting outdated hardware out of the box and pay for the benefit of living in the vendor's walled garden.

 

[A Computer Guy]

Planned obsolesce?

 

[biffzinker]

Could this be the Samsung 8nm process at fault that Nvidia had trouble with for the RTX 3000?