We’re almost three months on from the Nintendo Switch 2’s release, and while we have plenty of third-party games to come on the newer hybrid console, many developers say that they’re still having issues getting hold of dev kits.
This comes from the folks at Digital Foundry in response to a question from a listener during this week’s DF Direct (timestamped, 8:20). Part of the question focuses on Switch 2 kits, particularly pointing out Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound, which runs at 30fps on the newer console (though it doesn’t have a specific Switch 2 version either): “Do you think Nintendo are regretting not sharing the dev kits wider, sooner?”
Host John Linneman, who was at Gamescom 2025, spoke to multiple developers on the show floor where “so many of them said the same thing,” and that “It’s really difficult right now” to even get hold of a dev kit.
It sounds like the enthusiasm is there — “They would love to do Switch 2 versions. They can’t get the hardware.” — but the ability to get the hardware teams need to make Switch 2 games is tough. Some were apparently told “they should just ship it on Switch 1 and rely on backwards compatibility.”
Co-host Oliver Mackenzie also weighed in, saying “I don’t really understand the strategy” Nintendo is implementing in handing out dev kits.
The team reports “hearing things through the grapevine and talking to people” on some “weird exclusions” and “weird inclusions” , highlighting Chillin’ by the Fire as one of the latter games: “…Some big developers, on the other hand, who developed AAA stuff aren’t necessarily in the pipeline there for kits.”
Of course, the only people who know what’s actually going on with these dev kits are at Nintendo; Mouse Work, a game specifically designed to be played in Mouse Mode, can’t release on Switch 2 until the devs get a kit. Nintendo is reportedly focusing on indie developers and smaller studios, but that still leaves a lot of teams out.
When you get reports about some third-party games running better on Switch 2 than others; for example, Final Fantasy VII Remake impressed at Gamescom while Elden Ring… did not.
Let us know what you think of the Switch 2 dev kit situation in the comments.
