Nintendo patents show the Switch 2 Joy-Con may indeed work like a mouse — and so might a new controller

Newly-published Nintendo patents show that the company has been exploring a version of its Joy-Con controllers that can work like a computer mouse, a feature Nintendo has hinted will be coming to the Switch 2. In its Switch 2 teaser video last month, Nintendo showed two Joy-Con controllers sliding along the ground, much like you’d move a mouse.

But mouse-like functionality may not just be limited to Joy-Cons: the patents also show that Nintendo has explored adding mouse-like functionality to a split controller with a larger, more traditionally-sized grip.

Images in one patent show a Joy-Con being held horizontally, with the SR and SL buttons facing downward, and a person’s thumbs on the control sticks. This seems to indicate that the optical sensor would be facing downward so that you can hold and move the controller on a surface like a mouse.

Another image shows the left Joy-Con being used upright while the right Joy-Con is used in this mouse mode — imagine WASD, but with your Switch controllers. In a machine translation of the patent, which is in Japanese, the term “mouse operation sensor” appears 28 times, which suggests that there will be technology inside the controllers that makes them work like a mouse.

Mouse-like Joy-Con have been rumored for a while, but I’ve been wondering if or how that functionality would translate to a more standard controller. Based on the patent drawings, Nintendo has designed a split controller with more traditional console grips, and it appears that at least the right side of the controller could be placed on a surface and operated like a mouse.

Another patent shows that these Joy-Con will be able to slot into a wrist strap attachment that looks similar to the ones for the original Switch. A machine translation of that patent includes the word “magnet” 355 times, which seems to indicate that the wrist strap could attach magnetically to the Joy-Con. I’m guessing that means that the Joy-Con themselves could attach to the Switch 2 console magnetically as well, which has been rumored.

That second patent also shows what looks to be a controller dock of some kind where the Joy-Con can be laid down and presumably charged.

Patents don’t always translate directly into actual, shipping products, so it’s possible that these are designs Nintendo explored but never pursued. But given the rumors around this tech, and Nintendo’s own hints in the same direction, there’s a good chance these offer an early look at how some of the Switch 2’s new features might work.

Nintendo is set to release the Switch 2 sometime in 2025. The company plans to reveal more about the console in a Switch 2-focused Nintendo Direct on April 2nd and is making preparations to try to meet demand.