Will the Nintendo Switch 2 Have Theme Support?

Even before the announcement of the Nintendo Switch 2, I was racking my brain to see how Nintendo could improve the UI. Surely there would be some updates and upgrades for this all-new console! I have also been keeping my radar up to see if we would get the ability to change the UI theme past the standard light & dark mode offered. After and entire 8+ years of no proper themes on Switch, there is a resounding sentiment across the community hoping for some more colourful, customizable options in Switch 2's future.

Nintendo Switch 2 promo image from Nintendo Official Site

My thoughts? While I do really wish for themes, I am not optimistic about it. The console hasn't even launched yet and it has been a consistent topic of controversy since the April 2nd Direct—I feel it is necessary to dive into this to add context to my hopes, or lack there of, for themes on Switch 2.

Switch 2 is Almost Here

The Nintendo Switch 2, while rumoured for much of 2024, was officially announced January 16th, 2025. Not much was shown then, but we got a better look at new features, upgrades and so many games coming to Switch 2 in the April 2nd, 2025 Nintendo Direct. It was a jam-packed 1.5 hours full of exciting announcements, including the release date!

June 5th is not that far away, but with pre-orders being paused in North America due to tariffs while Nintendo figured out their game plan, there was a period of doubt for many of us if we were going to get our hands on it at all. The pre-order date moved from April 9th to April 24th after a couple weeks of silence from Nintendo. I won't dive into the chaos of that pre-order day, but rest assured that I was able to secure my pre-order through Best Buy!

The Handheld Golden Era

Previous to the Switch, Nintendo had both home and handheld console lines. While enthusiasts found crafty ways to add themes to their Wii and Wii U's, the official offerings were limited and not expected. In the same era, the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 offered countless options for themes on their respective systems, allowing users to change the background, icons and even UI sounds. This precedent was not set for Nintendo's home consoles, so why is there so much desire for themes? Feature parity aside, we need to look to the Nintendo 3DS to find our answer.

Nintendo opened the floodgates (relatively) when it came to theme support for their handheld lineup with the launch of the 3DS. In addition to light and dark mode, there were a variety of default colours to choose from. Beyond that, it was possible to purchase themes on the eshop, allowing users to to enhance their 3DS experience with their favourite characters and franchises.

Nintendo 3DS and 2DS Mario themes (image from Nintendo UK)

What We Know So Far

The Switch 2 hype has mostly been centered around hardware and the games (makes sense), and we've barely caught a glimpse of what the UI looks like so far. All we currently have to work with are a couple images of the home screen. If you were to look at that UI removed from the hardware, you might not even tell the UI is different at first glance. If you were to put it side by side with the original Switch's UI, it's more in line with a game of "spot the difference" than UI overhaul.

Nintendo Switch 2 UI – Image from PRESS START.

From a utilitarian standpoint, I don't really mind the sameness with minor updates. I like the rounded corners for the game icons. There are also some different icons in the dock with an updated selector and… that's kinda it? Well at least from what we can see. Seeing how inspired they were, I think it's safe to say the rest of the UI will fall in place.

Part of me is okay with seeing this because I think this general layout is quite minimalist and leaves room for decoration with custom themes! If they overhauled the UI, maybe it wouldn't have allowed for the same flexibility. So the potential is there, it's only a matter of time to see if this will be something Nintendo supports.

Will it be there at launch? I can say most definitely not. But hey, maybe it's a feature drop sometime in the near future between major releases!

My Rendition

As much as themes would be a big deal, my gut feeling is that we won't be getting any… Instead of fretting, I imagined what could have been! Before the Switch 2 was officially announced, I took my curiosity into Figma to see what the new console's UI could look like. Instead of the basic light/dark mode, what if the screen burst with colour, filling corner to corner with key art based on which game you were hovering over? The game cards would expand to box art height when selected, and the core UI on the top and bottom would be treated to a nice frosted glass effect, letting the colours of the games shine through whilst keeping the contained elements clear.

Ultimately, the UI is a momentary experience to get us into games, so I won't be the saddest if we don't get themes, but it would have been nice to see more effort from Nintendo to spruce up and differentiate the Switch 2's UI. Ah well. Really, I'm just stoked to replay Tears of the Kingdom in all of its upgraded glory 😍