In Advanced New Game (New Game+), players can raise a Driver's accessory equipment slots from two to three using the Accessory Expansion Kit obtained from the Traveling Bard. Scanning an amiibo from the System menu and receiving the "Bonus WP" reward silently drops the slot count back from 3 to 2, hiding the third slot. Nintendo has confirmed that any accessory equipped in the vanished slot is not destroyed — it remains in the player's possession — so the damage is to build flexibility rather than to inventory.
Nintendo's same acknowledgement covers a second, separate defect in this edition: battle background music plays quieter than intended, so combat tracks are drowned out by voices and sound effects. Both issues were reported by players immediately after the 30 July 2026 launch, and Nintendo says update data fixing both is being prepared, with no release date announced yet.
Nintendo has confirmed it is preparing update data to fix both the accessory slot and battle music volume issues, but has not announced a distribution date.
Steps to reproduce:
- Start Advanced New Game (New Game+) in Xenoblade Chronicles 2 - Nintendo Switch 2 Edition.
- Trade Bonus EXP with the Traveling Bard to obtain the Accessory Expansion Kit and raise a Driver's accessory slots from 2 to 3.
- Open the System menu and select the amiibo option.
- Scan an amiibo and receive the "Bonus WP" reward.
- Check the Driver's equipment screen — the third accessory slot is no longer available.
Workaround: Avoid amiibo rewards of "Bonus WP" — the slot loss does not occur when the amiibo scan yields any other reward. Reporting also suggests using a second user profile rather than continuing a New Game+ save until the patch ships, and one player reported recovering the lost slots by re-downloading a cloud save made before playing the Switch 2 Edition (unverified, single user account). For the audio bug there is no workaround beyond adjusting volume manually.
Severity: Medium (vendor-acknowledged, degrades a core progression feature in New Game+ and the game's audio mix, but no crash, no data loss — equipped accessories are retained — and an avoidance workaround exists)
First seen: 30 July 2026
Affected product: Xenoblade Chronicles 2 - Nintendo Switch 2 Edition
Affected platforms: Nintendo Switch 2
Affected versions: Launch version as of 30 July 2026 (no version number published)
Fixed versions: Not yet available (update in preparation, release date unannounced)
Links:
- https://nintendoeverything.com/xenoblade-chronicles-2s-switch-2-edition-already-has-some-issues/ (published shortly after 30 July 2026 launch, updated 5 August 2026)
- https://mynintendonews.com/2026/08/05/nintendo-confirms-xenoblade-chronicles-2-switch-2-bugs-and-is-preparing-update/ (5 August 2026)
- https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2026/08/nintendo-identifies-xenoblade-chronicles-2-switch-2-edition-bugs-update-on-the-way (5 August 2026)
- https://twistedvoxel.com/xenoblade-chronicles-2-switch-2-update-will-fix-accessory-slot-and-battle-music-bugs/ (August 2026)