The Nintendo Switch is getting an official Joy-Con charging stand seven years after the console launched

Nintendo is set to launch an official Joy-Con charging stand, but it looks like it’ll only be available in Japan – at least initially.

Spotted by Nintendo Life, the charging stand is available to pre-order now at the official Japanese My Nintendo Store, and it’s listed at 3,300 yen – or roughly $21 / £16. It’s scheduled to launch on October 17 in the region.

The purpose of the charging stand is to be able to charge up your Joy-Con controllers without them needing to be attached to the Nintendo Switch handheld. Now, any USB-C connection will do the trick. What’s more, the central charging unit can also be detached from the stand; potentially useful if you want to carry on playing while the controllers are charging.

“You can easily charge the Joy-Con at any time without having to attach it to the Nintendo Switch console,” reads the translated store page description. “This is recommended for those who have multiple Joy-Cons, such as when you want to charge the number of Joy-Cons for everyone to play games such as the Mario Party series or Nintendo Switch Sports together, or when you want to charge Joy-Cons that you are not using while playing in portable mode. It can also charge the Family Computer Controller for Nintendo Switch.”

It does seem a little baffling that Nintendo would wait more than seven years to release an official charging stand. Especially so when third-party charging stands from the likes of PowerA exist and came out close to the console’s 2017 launch window.

But this may support rumors surrounding the upcoming (and tentatively named) Nintendo Switch 2. Specifically, the rumor that it’ll have revamped Joy-Con controllers that magnetically attach to the console, rather than the rail system we have on the current Switch. As such, this charging stand could allow older Joy-Con controllers to remain usable with the Switch’s successor if they can’t be attached to the console itself.

Time will tell, of course. But it’s certainly very interesting as to why Nintendo chose now, of all times, to release such an accessory.