I årene op til afsløringen og lanceringen af Nintendo Switch, så gik det ikke just godt for Nintendo. Trods tidligere successer var Wii U-konsollen en fiasko, og der blev hverken solgt nok hardware eller software, der ledte til spekulation om hvorvidt Nintendo ville stoppe helt med at producere egen hardware.
Derfor var Switch-konsollen uhyre vigtig, faktisk beskriver tidligere Nintendo of America-chef, Reggie Fils-Aime, den som et såkaldt "make-or-break" produkt, altså at dens skæbne ville afgøre Nintendos globale strategi. Under New York Gaming Awards (via Nintendo Life) sagde han følgende:
"You know, Nintendo has done so many innovations in the space. I think what Nintendo did with the Switch, after the poor performance of Wii U, I think to me and what I was part of, that's my lasting memory. People forget, when the Wii U launched, the performance over that life cycle was so poor, I mean it was the worst-selling platform, I think maybe Virtual Boy was a little bit worse, but Wii U underperformed pretty radically in the marketplace. Along with so many of the other things I was part of, but the Switch really was a make or break product for the company and luckily it was a hit."
Switch står (måske) til at overhale Wii som en af de bedst sælgende konsoller nogensinde.