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.

A patent filed by The Nintendo Company has strengthened rumors that Nintendo Switch 2’s Joy-Con controllers will include mouse functionality. The patent was filed August 1, 2023, but was published Thursday,

It's been a month since we first heard rumors that the Switch 2's new Joy-Cons could be slid across a flat surface to function like a computer mouse. Now, a newly published patent filed by Nintendo seems to confirm that feature and describes how it will work.

In it, the pair of Joy-Cons briefly raced each other across a hard surface Tron-bike style, trailing their wrist straps like tails. The whole thing made them look a lot like computer mice, and it was broadly assumed that this hinted at mouse controls for the Nintendo Switch 2.

A newly published Nintendo patent for the Switch 2 Joy-Con shows the controller being used as a mouse, as well as diagrams of a potential new controller. The patent, listed on the World Intellectual Property Organization database with a publication date of today, shows diagrams of the right Joy-Con from various angles.

Who better to ask about that supposed Switch 2 mouse functionality than the producer of a popular RTS franchise with deep PC roots?

It’s all adding up

If you watched the Nintendo Switch 2 reveal video, you’ll have spotted what looked like a ‘mouse’ mode for the Joy-Cons. During the reveal trailer, there's a moment where a pair of detached Joy-Cons are lowered onto a surface,