At the end of its life, the Switch is still getting new accessories. Nintendo announced the handheld hybrid console will get a dedicated charging station for Joy-Con controllers in the fall. The timing is so strange it feels like it might have something to do with the Switch 2.
The “Joy-Con Charging Stand (Two-Way) accessory” was revealed on X (formerly Twitter) via the Nintendo Europe account today. It looks like a Joy-Con grip with a USB-C port and a small platform to hold it up. We don’t know the price yet but the device comes out on October 17. The response from fans is what you might expect. “Nice accessory but I feel like this should’ve been a thing seven years ago,” commented one. “Can I plug it in to fix my drift?” commented another. Every other modern console has had a controller charging accessory since basically whenever it came out.
The Switch didn’t really need a charging stand since that’s effectively what the console is when its docked, but for multiplayer games and players circulating through multiple Joy-Con, having the ability to always keep one set charged it makes a lot of sense. The timing of the announcement seems to be pegged to the recent release of Nintendo World Championships, and Super Mario Party Jamboree is out the same day as the charging stand in the fall.
But some think this might also be related to the upcoming reveal of the Switch 2. As VGC editor Chris Scullion pointed out, recent rumors point to the Switch 2 having magnetic strips on the sides to keep controllers attached, potentially indicating that existing Joy-Con won’t be able to connect to the sides. In that scenario, a charging stand like this would be the only way to charge old Joy-Con outside of the original Switch.
It’s possible we’ll finally get a first look at what the Switch 2 actually is in September. That’s when Nintendo traditionally airs its last big Direct of the year, and that’s how the Switch was originally revealed in 2016 with a full launch the following spring. For now, there are already rumors circulating about what the console’s specs might be.
