We all know that games on the 3DS and Wii U are scheduled to disappear when their respective eShops close down in March 2023, but you probably weren't expecting Switch games to disappear, too.
It turns out that the Nintendo Switch can only display up to 2,000 games at a time, and if you have any more than that, the ones that you haven't played for the longest time won't appear in your library. 2,000 might sound like a lot, but if you're the kind of person that downloads every demo, it's surprisingly easy to climb up to such a lofty number.
If games start disappearing from your library, you won't be able to play them (since their thumbnail is missing to launch them) but you also won't be able to re-download them (because you already have them downloaded). So what are you supposed to do?
Thanks to an email tip from David, who experienced this problem recently, we know how to fix it:
"To get the "missing" titles to reappear, you just have to delete new titles. Every time you delete a title, one "missing" title will reappear at the end of the list. I spent an hour fully deleting almost every demo to get the main menu down to less than 2000 titles, and all the "missing" games and programs reappeared."
If you're the kind of person who never wants to delete anything, well... we can't help you there. For those of you who are fine with deleting demos, though, just be aware that most of these are unavailable to re-download, so only delete the ones you're okay with never seeing again!
Thanks for the tip, David! Let us know if you've experienced this problem yourself in the comments below.
Comments 112
Or just create a folder and put the ones you want in it. Simple and easy.
Good to know. I likely won’t reach that issue until the end of the switch’s lifespan. (The wishlist is huge). I don’t tend to download a lot of demos or don’t keep them if I do. But I love that I can see the tiles … they spark joy.
Am I the only one excited to see a bell curve popping up?
I have 162 digital downloads alone?! That's in addition to 69 physical copies, many of which their own updates and/or DLC.
I thought I had a lot, but knowing I'm not at the cap of 2,000 yet makes me feel better 😅
ugh, honestly, what a pain. like the 3DS having a max of 300 I think. Wait, I misread 2000 as 200. Meh! Not so bad lol.
Currently I have 48 Switch games in physical and it occupied two boxes HORI Switch card case 24 until full.
But those 2000 titles include physical games? I mean, they also display an icon and I'm sure you can also "delete" those as well.
As for myself, I'm at a modest 100-200 games/icons, with about 20 physical games.
I tend to keep demos of games I really like (Metroid Dread, Kirby and the Forgotten Land) and also sometimes download DLC of games I still don't own but eventually will (Mega Man 11, Animal Crossing: New Horizons), which also makes them display an icon.
@CharlieGirl 60% of the Switch library (which is around over 6000 games) is garbage anyways so if you only buy the good legit games you shouldn't had to worry about reaching that 2000 games limit. Also even if you do you could always make folders for more.
I didn't think there were that many demos
Between digital and physical purchases?
Somewhere north of 1,000 games.
I have around 300 Switch games with 255 of them being physical. I doubt I'll reach anywhere near 2000 games when it's all said and done. So I shouldn't have to worry about this. And I delete demos of games I purchase afterwards...
I have around 300 app icons on my Switch. This includes things such as "ARMS Global Testpunch" which I never bothered deleting.
I actually ran into a strange bug where, when listed "by total playtime", some of my older games would consider themselves "Never played". For example Breath of the Wild currently sits at the bottom of the list as "never played", whereas it used to be at the very top with hundreds of hours in it. I wonder what's going on here.
Because I can no longer trust the "sort by playtime" option, I now sort them by last played. So unfortunate. Oh well
"640 games ought to be enough for anybody" - Bill Gates
Omg. I have like 1700 games.
Honestly I think if you are reaching the limit of 2000 games you might want to rethink your life balance. I play far too much and have less than that across PS, Xbox and Switch.
How do you even find time to play that many?
@EarthboundBenjy It ignores games you haven't played in the last 12 months. If you play BotW for a few minutes it will suddenly remember all your hundreds of hours.
I think I’m currently at 109. That’s not including those that outstayed their welcome and have subsequently, been deleted. If I were to toss those in… about 135 total.
At the moment I've 52 games: 34 physical 18 digital plus DLCs and I doubt that I'll even get close to 100 games by the end of Nintendo Switch lifetime. There are not so many good games worth buying nowadays.
I probably have around 300 (give or take), though I'm not bothered counting through them now (maybe in the morning).
But I keep finding myself returning to the same old games, though I did finally collect all of the moons in Super Mario Odyssey last week after a 4 year hiatus!
It takes long enough for all of the software to appear whenever I want to delete save data. I can't imagine how much longer it would take it load when one's library is in the quadruple digits!
Also, if you wanted to play a "hidden" app but don't have access to its icon on the menu due to this bug, presumably you would be able to launch it from your friends list, right? If you wanted to play Zelda, but it's at the bottom of your 2000+ list, you could quickly ask a friend to put Zelda on, then go to the friends list to see their recent games, and then just launch it from the friends list to get it "back" to the top of your top 2000 list. Obviously this isn't a great solution. but it is... a solution.
Because I’ve survived so long without folders and groups on the Switch, I’ve been brainwashed to love the unending mess of rows of games. I’m glad I can continue to add over a thousand more games to my monstrous centipede before it begins to die.
@chardir Okay, I see. That's annoying but whatever.
thank goodness i am a physical gamer.. no worries..
Classic Nintendo. Why is there a limit to begin with? Sony and Microsoft don't do this rubbish.
Switch, 30 out of 40 games downloaded
Xb, 135 out of 246 games downloaded
Ps, 15 out of 15 games downloaded
Kudos to those with 2000 games, on the switch alone. May you find the time to game.
The post specifically mentioned "apps" so I assume he's dealing with homebrew stuff to hit that kind of number.
Regardless, it does show how Nintendo still puts some artificial limits on things for seemingly little reason.
“If your the kind that downloads every demo”
...is Nintendo life spying on me?!?
That's a bit of a weird issue and would be really annoying if I had that many. I'm only in the 600-700 range at the moment so thankfully I won't have to worry about it any time soon though. Hopefully it's something Nintendo decides to fix if it gains enough attention.
I have no idea how many I have. But even with so many ACA NeoGeo and Arcade Archives games, and only about 150 Physical, I can't imagine I'm close to 2000.
When it's time to make space, make some space.
If we were to be technical, I have approximately 259 games on my Switch between NSO, collections and whatnot but if we were to just count the apps themselves, I have 47 total. I doubt I'll have to worry too much about this apparent limit since, when I buy games, I usually go for collections like I said previously (I literally bought the Capcom Fighting Bundle days before this) so I think I'll be alright. It's not like I'd have the money to fill it all out anyway.
(also yes, I did spend the last 5 minutes doing the maths for this. What can I say: I like to be thorough)
How can you possibly fit 2000 games on a Switch to begin with? Is the guy just downloading things and immediately archiving them, or is he swapping out microSD's? I've nearly filled up my 500 GB one with only around a hundred digital games, though admittedly a handful of those are in the 10-20 GB range.
I’m between 300 and 400. Last time I counted, I had just surpassed 300 games and that was a little over a year ago. My Switch spending has diminished dramatically in 2021 and 2022 as I’ve gotten nearly anything I could want on the console. This year I know I’ve purchased maybe 10 titles. Can’t imagine surpassing 2000 titles unless the Switch continues for 20 years or so with a consistently strong library.
What is that nonsense? Wii U or 3DS games don't just disappear from your console when the eShop on those consoles is closing down. 🙄
2,000 good lord. I probably have around 50-ish but I only really play Nintendo's IPs. I also replay my favourites fairly often and play Pokémon, Mario Maker, and Animal Crossing on an ongoing basis. I think I've bought 3 games this year lol
If 2000 is a problem then your life is a mess. I am judging your life - and it is a mess. Your parents, your shrink and your banker need to reach out for an intervention. Personal responsibility should be forfeited to the state for full control over your affairs.
I have close to 500. Got the vast majority deeply discounted, but still have to think I have dropped at least a cool $5k on games. I need an intervention
@Sonos I've been accumulating a vast library on Steam for more than a decade, thanks to generous sales and copious bundles. I still only have 800 or so titles.
I can't even imagine hitting 2000 there — let alone on the Switch. More than a mess, I'd say,
@EarthboundBenjy Your playtime data for the sort function is stored locally, so if you replace your Switch, that data is reset. Overall playtime is shown on your profile, of course, but sorting doesn't use that.
It's probably unlikely that the average person hits the limit, but considering the outcries every time a digital store closes or something gets delisted, "just delete games" isn't really the ideal solution.
I'm at 626 icons right now and plenty of those are demos I can delete at some point, but still.
@Kestrel I once had a problem with Steam games. I'd buy almost anything on discount - regardless if I even planned on playing it. I stopped doing that years ago. But whenever I look at my library I am reminded of the fact it was to fill a personal void I like to ignore.
If you have 2000 games turn off your Switch and go and get some fresh air!
If you bought one game every day since the Switch launched, you would be just over the 2000 game limit.
And this is why #physicalforever
Deku Deals currently lists 629 games having Demos (as per US eShop), so even if you keep around all the demos, your library has to be 1500-strong for this to happen. Congrats on giving Nintendo so much of your money.
@sneaky_sasquatch I hope you do realise that physical games also add icons to the homescreen/dashboard/whatever, thereby making this theoretically possible.
1st world problems
I have 107 Switch titles on my Switch.
❗️I answered "100-200" but in reality, I have 108 Switch Games, mostly physical💾
My 'GameFAQs' signature, which is constantly updated if I buy or sell a Game, says this:
This is correct, as of Monday 7th August 2022.
Yeah 2000 games is something I’m never going to have to worry about, even with demos 😂
@Serpenterror Are you Lord Zedd's Zord?
i have 13 games, all pyshical and plan to increase my backlog with Bayonetta 3, Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild 2 e Metroid Prime 4 all pyshical too.
@chardir Not sure what that's a reference to but I ❤d your comment.
EDIT: I've just Googled it and I was happy at 4MB Floppy Disk.
With roughly 1054 titles in my Switch collection (one of them physical and a couple still nominally counted but discontinued freemiums launching which would be a tall order anyway), it sounds slightly disconcerting, but despite the even bigger wishlist, I don't quite see myself amassing the "remaining" ~946 for the cap anytime soon - what I have took me over five years, after all!😅 And the OS might get patched accordingly in the meantime anyway.
What's more remarkable is that calculating the votes at the time of writing reveals at least two dozen folks here besides myself who boast over a thousand titles. I see you are people of culture as well!😆
@San_D I'm not sure about that. When you insert physical cartridge to the Switch, it will show up as the first icon, regardless of where it was in the list. Of course, I cannot confirm how it acts when you have 2000+ games as my game count is like 100 times smaller than this limit, but I guess that even if the physical game icon disappears, it would reappear when inserted. Someone correct me if I'm wrong.
According to my list at DekuDeals, I have 207 physical games and 27 (unique) digital games on the Switch. 2k sounds like a lot of games.
Jeez, I legit NEVER KNEW there was a limit. Thanks for making me paranoid, yo!
My first console, the Sega Master System, I had 3 games for. And that included Alex Kidd which was built in. I would read magazines and hang out at the mall and dream about having lots of games. Now I'm in the "hundreds upon hundreds" club on the Switch... 12 year old me wouldn't even be able to comprehend it!
@Relpai That actually makes sense, even if you have more than 2000 games.
I have 136 icons in the list, but I'm pretty sure I have downloaded everything I own, so that should be close to all of them. I just checked Steam as well and was surprised that I have only a little over 300 games on there, even though my account is 18 years old.
I’m in the 300-400 range so I’ll be safe for a long time.
Worse, however, there is a limit on the eShop wishlist of 400 active titles. Active meaning there is still a page you can visit even if the game is delisted. If you happen to have wishlisted an item like DLC for a delisted title that has no active page, then the eShop still seems to count it even though you can no longer go to the page to untick the heart, nor even figure out what the item is in your list, thus bringing down your effective maximum wishlist limit. My max is now 396 instead of 400, for example. And I have no idea how to fix it.
I doubt I will ever get close to 2000. Problem solved.
I mean you can also use multiple Switch's with your account so buying another is always an option too for another 2000 XD
Youtuber world problems.
I ran into that issue on the Wii U (I don't buy physical), but it only allowed a few hundred (not sure of the exact number).
On Switch I have between 400 - 500 downloads (no demos).
But... Folders! Didn't we sort all our games a few months ago? Does anybody use these? I guess you can bypass this 2k issue by splitting your library.
I'm probably in the 500-1000 range by now, and I feel like I gotta be in the minority for top quantity. That said it's because I got all the ACA Neo Geo titles and a bunch of ACA classics as well, that's gotta be close to 200 games in total just there. Then there's a ton of indie games I got on sale for next to nothing.
When it comes to games I got installed though, even maxing out on a 1TB SD card, I think I got just over 500 games in my eshop library that I haven't installed. Keep in mind how I sort of alleviated this issue by installing different games on different Switch consoles. Like I got two Switch Lites with their own games installed, and an old launch Switch that I also put a bunch of different games on. My main Switch is my Animal Crossing edition, that revision they had before the OLED update.
I just never saw the point in having archived titles on my library though. I think that just makes navigating my library a lot more time consuming and difficult. If I want to download some games I got I'll just go to the redownload section on the eshop, that's what it's for.
@San_D Yeah but if you put in the card of the game you want to play it jumps to the front of the screen so no I'm still #physicalforever
I probably have access to about 2,000 including gamepass, playstation premium, nso, steam, deck and god knows what else I own or rent via service... but certainly not all are on switch.
I'm at around 300 including some demos and miscellaneous. It's been 5 years, so I think I'm safe for another 30 or so years at this pace
Also, I love that the average is 50-100 in this poll; I bet that's sooo much higher than for the average Switch user.
Contrary to this quote from her article, the Wii U and 3DS eShops not only aren't disappearing in March, but your digital games suddenly aren't going to disappear off your system when Nintendo does finally shutter them.
All that's ending is the ability to make digital purchases, just as happened to the DSi and Wii Shop years ago while still remaining online to this day (other than a few months vacation for "maintenance" earlier this year).
She's apparently mixed up about how Wii U/3DS DRM works while also having neglected to read very carefully the notices that Nintendo has released about the winding down of purchasing content on the Wii U/3DS eShop.
Here's Nintendo's own faq on the topic to alleviate any concern in case someone is still worried about losing access to their purchases since a NintendoLife editor said it's happening (Since you don't know who the heck I am or why you should trust what I write).
https://en-americas-support.nintendo.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/57847/~/wii-u-%26-nintendo-3ds-eshop-discontinuation-q%26a
my game count is currently at 77
but around the end of the month, it will be 78
I'm at 558 (including physical), but I religiously delete, not archive, demos to free up memory/ avoid scrolling through them in my game list.
I think the max is 4000. You sort them A-Z to see the first 2000, then sort Z-A to see the other 2000. Or as others said, use folders, but sorting 2000+ into folders...
I have just over 100 games, that's if you're including game demos as well though. I don't even think I would ever make it to one-fourth of that amount of games.
Hitting 2,000 means you're using the Switch wayyyyy more than advertised
I don’t know about you guys, but I’m using he folders.
This article just made me realize that I am poor. Me and my 100 games. A filthy poor casual I must be.
Much better than the 3ds which I believe capped out at 200.
My brother and I share a spreadsheet so we don't duplicate purchases for this reason.
I've beaten 120 of my switch games, I've started another 300, and my total games owned is 765.
...which means I've got a backlog of 345 unstarted games
...on Switch.
lol 2000+ thats alot of shovelware
I CBA to count TBH but I mainly get Nintendo 1st party digital
Got a few on sale but its tedious to scroll thru 1K+ on the special offers you have to be to do that
It was the same with the ps vita. If you have i think 100+ games/apps the bubbles start to disappear
I’m very anal about keeping my Switch free of games I don’t play. If I beat it and would never go back, I’ll delete it or archive it if I have enough sentiment.
This practice will probably haunt me later
I still have Super Mario 35 installed lol 😅
And I don't think I'm gonna delete.
There are not 2000 games worth playing on the Switch. That’s not a criticism of the Switch in particular; most games published on modern digital storefronts are not worth playing. Anyone who owns 2000 Switch games needs another hobby, or better yet an actual life.
Switch is my only current platform and I have plenty of games for it, but I could never see myself owning 2,000 plus. That's insane to me.
@jcboyer515 I disagree.
The article is discussing purchased and downloaded Switch games disappearing locally at the user's end on their own personal system. Read the full quote since I didn't bother quoting all of it the first time.
"We all know that games on the 3DS and Wii U are scheduled to disappear when their respective eShops close down in March 2023, but you probably weren't expecting Switch games to disappear, too."
She sure seems to be saying that they're one and the same to me (i.e., purchased downloads disappearing on your own system).
It was very much worthy of clarification with all the casuals that visit here that don't keep up with the news like some of us do. Contrary to what she alludes to with her comparison, no purchases are disappearing next March off of anyone's Wii U or 3DS. Even your ability to even redownload your past purchases from these systems isn't disappearing next March.
All that's ending is the ability to make new digital purchases off the Wii U and 3DS eShops. A big loss of course, but a very different loss than what she's implying with that quote about people's downloaded Wii U/3DS games expiring next March by comparing it with this Switch news. They're two very different things here that probably shouldn't of ever been compared.
One is an OS limitation at the user's end that hides some of their installed digital purchases. The second is the discontinuance of online purchasing that will have zero effect on one's installed digital purchases.
@nhSnork you have 1053 digital and exactly 1 physical? Out of curiosity is the 1 physical a game you got bundled with your Switch and/or the game ring fit (the only game I know of with no digital version)? I also almost entirely have digital and it kind of annoys me ring fit wasn't sold digitally (the game itself, obviously not the actual ring).
As for how many people have over 1,000 games, I'm not sure how these polls round; 1% could technically mean O.001% to 1% or .5% to 1.5% or some other variation. .5% would be at least 15 people which seems very plausible considering the number of collectors who use this site and the fact that some people marked down 2,000+.
@Sonos In my case it's more that I'm interested in a lot of indie games that tend to be in bundles, where it's ultimately cheaper to buy the bundle of 8-12 games than just the one. I do make an effort, when I can, to at least try the other games, which has led to finding some incredible hidden gems I wouldn't have looked at otherwise.
But, yeah, going out of your way to buy games you don't care to play just because you can is potentially pretty unhealthy. I am reminded of all those "collectors" you see on Reddit, especially for platforms like the WiiU or Vita (platforms that simply never had very many decent games, period) showing off shelves of hundreds of game cases, mostly shovelware.
@jcboyer515 Take a deep breath, man.
You're way too defensive and worked up over it. I was just trying to make sure that some casual that doesn't follow the news regularly doesn't come in and think their Wii U and 3DS downloads are going to disappear next March.
If you'd feel better, I'll even happily delete my comments in here since it's no sweat off my back. I was trying to potentially be helpful to someone, not annoy anyone like I've clearly done with you.
Say the word and all these posts will go poof as soon as I see it.
You have to have a really good memory to realize you are missing one of your 2001 games.
@Atariboy From my point of you, you seem pretty worked up
@Fiskern I'm not.
I've not sounded annoyed with any of you guys. I just didn't want random people misinterpreting that into thinking their purchases will go away next March like I tried to explain to JC.
People have so many misconceptions about these digital stores. For instance I bet I've helped a dozen people through the years that changed Xbox 360's and happened to comment somewhere that I frequent about how they're sad that they can't redownload a favorite game they bought since it had been delisted.
They've always been pleased to discover that they misunderstood what getting delisted means and that instead of searching for it in the store where it's not available from anymore, that their download they paid for is waiting in their purchase history for them.
@FishyS the physical game is The Witcher 3 - I had less storage space back in 2019 and was reluctant to make almost 30 Gb of room for another game after just recently clearing out the beaten LA Noire of the same caliber, plus the physical version, already remarkably standard-priced for the handful of stuff it came withx showed up at a discount at a local store. I'm curious about Ring Fit Adventure, but its gameplay looks like a mostly home-based activity and thus more restrictive in terms of access.
I always felt dreadful realizing I have about 100 games on the switch and yet barely play any of them but what a relief knowing now there are players out there with over 2000 games. What a feel good moment.
"but if you're the kind of person that downloads every demo"
Why on earth would you do that to yourself? That sounds like torture on the slow & clunky eshop... and would also make the Switch menu pretty much unusable, long before reaching 2000 games.
Recently I finally started going through all the demos I downloaded and deleting them after trying them. And then Xenoblade 3 came out and so much for finishing that project.
I wish they'd let us have folders on the HOME SCREEN. That would solve the problem.
I have 73 physical games. Maybe around 400 digital games? I haven't catalogued them yet.
@Stroopwafel
The size of the bins varies, though...
I'm in the 50-100 bracket. If Nintendo ever introduced a scheme where you could get even £1 or £2 eShop credit back for the digital purchases you no longer wanted, it'd be very successful.
@HugoRadio somehow I just noticed that after reading your comment. Too bad though. If corrected for bin size, I would still expect a peak at the 25 to 50 range, with a bell curve like shape.
I... didn't even know there were 2000 games on the Switch TBH
Ehmmm... there are no folders. There are just tags and they want us to believe you can do folders.
And how can anyone who hasn't 2000+ games in the library know that the tagging works in this case?
@FishyS
If you hover over the percentages, you can see the exact vote numbers. As of 3587 votes, it's 42 1000-2000 votes, and 39 2000+ votes.
Also, there's a couple odd ways to get a Ring Fit digital copy. EU has a bundle with console + game code, JP you can order a copy with a code instead of cart from the online store, and in China... all copies are codes, but Chinese games are region-locked.
There isn't a way for the grid to come up by default is there, rather than scrolling to the right of the line of the most recently played and pressing the button?
If there is, I feel stupid but then happy too
39. Technically a few more as I claimed some free games back when Qubic Games did a promo, but I uninstalled them - so I don’t think they should count.
It’ll be 40 once Splatoon 3 launches next month.
I’m at 146 digital but add another say 50 for the physical ones that haven’t touched my Switch yet. 2000 is an incredible amount.
My library is at 130. Tonight I downloaded 8 for about $2.
DekuDeals says I have 110 games, physical and digital combined, but maybe a few less than that since it includes DLC in the count.
Not bad for a dad with a tight budget. Yes, the wife and kids are still housed and fed.
I have roughly 400, majority of which are physical, yet I still have storage issues with my 128GB SD. I guess you have to be running a cool 2 TB to have this problem.
@chardir ... I am certain as well to never play more than 640 games in my entire life, let alone on Switch.
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