The Switch 2 wont be joining the Xbox and PlayStation consoles with its own system-wide achievements, Nintendo confirmed to Polygon in a recent interview.
When we asked vice president of player and product experience Bill Trinen if we can expect achievements, he gave a pretty clear answer: “Nope.”
Just like on Switch 1, itll be up to game developers to implement them in their own way. Ubisoft games, for example, have their own achievement system tied to Ubisoft Connect. When you earn them, they wont show up on your Nintendo profile. And thats not going to change with Switch 2.
But even though a traditional achievement system wont exist, Nintendo is still experimenting with some achievement-like systems in the Switch 2 versions of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom. Both games will let you earn medals on the Nintendo Switch phone app. When you do things like travel long distances or collect a large number of rupees, those will be tracked inside the Zelda Notes part of the app, and youll be able to see how you compare against other players around the world.
Thats about as close as youre going to get to achievements on Switch 2. Nintendo isnt going to reward you for finishing first place as the cow in Mario Kart World; thatll be on you to celebrate when the Switch 2 releases in June.