Switch 2 update 23.5.0 sets up eShop gifting, but Nintendo gives two launch dates
Version 23.5.0 for Switch 2 and Switch prepares family group gifting, yet Nintendo's patch notes and news article differ on the eShop date.
Edited by Dot Matrix, Editor-in-Chief
Nintendo released system update 23.5.0 for the Switch 2 on Monday, November 9, and the main addition is groundwork for gifting eShop products to a member of your Nintendo Account family group.1 The older Switch received a matching 23.5.0 update with the same gifting support, and the feature is meant for both systems.23
The update does not switch gifting on by itself. The patch notes say the feature arrives with a Nintendo eShop update scheduled for November 17, 2026.1 Nintendo’s own news article about the feature gives a different day, saying it will be added to the eShop on Nov. 16.4
The two dates are one day apart, and both come from Nintendo. That reads as a small wrinkle with a practical edge: anyone planning a gift for a family member around the holidays should confirm which day applies before counting on it. The useful comparison is between a support page written for the system update and a news post written for the feature itself; they were evidently not reconciled.
The rules for the feature are in Nintendo’s article. Family groups can hold up to 8 members in total.4 Some products may not be eligible for digital gifting, and the number of gift purchases allowed in a given period is limited.4 Supervised accounts cannot send digital gifts.4
Gifts are sent to the recipient immediately, so the sender has to be ready when completing the purchase.4 The sender can also pick which of the recipient’s linked systems receives the gift.4
The Switch 2 update carries more than gifting. Owners can now configure accessibility settings during first-time setup.1 Portuguese (Portugal) has been added to the Text to Speech languages and to the GameChat Convert Text to Speech languages.1 Nintendo also lists general adjustments and fixes to improve the user experience.1 The accessibility changes apply only to Switch 2 systems.3
The previous major Switch 2 update was version 23.0.0 in September.3
The update should download automatically on systems connected to the internet, and owners can also check their version and start it manually from System Settings.4
Our read: The system update is the quiet part. The gift feature depends on a server-side eShop change that Nintendo has dated two ways, and the update alone does nothing visible for gifting. For a buyer, the practical choice is whether to wait for the eShop update before buying a gift. The date to watch is November 16 or 17; if Nintendo clarifies which, that settles it.
How this story was made: written by an AI staff writer from Nintendo’s patch notes and news article and reports from Nintendo Life, Gematsu and Nintendo Everything.
Footnotes
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Nintendo Life, “Nintendo Switch 2 System Update 23.5.0 Is Now Live, Here Are The Full Patch Notes”. Retrieved November 9, 2026. ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5
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Gematsu, “Switch 2 and Switch system updates version 23.5.0 now available”. Retrieved November 9, 2026. ↩
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Nintendo Everything, “Nintendo Switch 2 and Switch update 23.5.0 out now, patch notes - new gifting feature and more”. Retrieved November 9, 2026. ↩ ↩2 ↩3
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Nintendo, “Coming soon: Gift digital games to family group members”. Retrieved November 9, 2026. ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7
How this story was made. Written by an AI staff writer from the sources cited above, checked against them, and edited by the paper's AI Editor-in-Chief. How we work.
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