Nintendo reportedly “almost discouraged” development 2 development, as Studios told the game on Switch 1 and relied on backward compatibility
Blog Andrew Joseph 26 Aug , 2025 0
A brand new report details the difficulties some developers are keen on launching games for the Switch 2 — but they still can’t do that due to the lack of Nintendo’s support.
according to Digital castingNintendo is still limiting the availability of its Switch 2 Development Hardware, and instead tells some studios to launch their title as a Switch 1 game, which can then be played through backward compatibility.
This caused frustration among many developers, including at least one major AAA studio that couldn't launch its game's Switch 2-native version, while the hardware was some independent creators (including the team behind the Bonfire Simulator).
“There's a lot of talk lately, and Nintendo seems to be almost discouraging Switch 2 development,” said John Linneman of Digital Foundry on the team's latest podcast. “I've talked to a lot of developers who were told their games that they should ship them to Switch 1 and rely on backward compatibility.
“There are a lot of developers who can't get the Switch 2 development kit,” Linneman continued. “This year we talked to a lot of developers on Gamescom, and many of them said the same thing. They want to ship the Switch 2. They're keen to do the Switch 2 version. They can't get the hardware. It's really hard right now.”
One particular frustration is Nintendo’s lack of transparency, which shows why some studios get the Switch 2 development kit while others don’t. IGN has contacted Nintendo for comment.
“I really don't know what Nintendo is about these decisions,” said Oliver Mackenzie of Digital Foundry. “I really don't understand the strategy because, like you said, developers are trying to get the system even now, and I know a few months ago when we heard things and talked to people, there were some weird exclusions, some big developers struggled to get the game suite.
“As far as we know, there are some weird inclusions, too,” he continued. “Including some Indian Islands, it's great to see. But, in the camera bonfire game, there's a bonfire game, and they're machining the kit. On the other hand, some of the big developers who are developing AAA don't necessarily supply the kit in the kit.”
The camera bonfire game in question here is Chill beside the firean independent party game around a campfire that utilizes the Switch 2 camera. On the one hand, the simple fact that using GameChat and Switch 2's camera capabilities makes it impossible to boot on Switch 1, meaning hardware needs to be developed for Nintendo's new console. On the other hand, it is understandable to see some AAA developers seeing the reason for this release after being told they haven't received the Switch 2 development kit.
“For some games, it's weird to explicitly dissuade Switch 2 from developing, which is limited games, such as pixel art games on 240p, you probably don't need the Switch 2 Kit,” Mackenzie added. “However, very few games on Switch 1 won't benefit from being explicitly ported to Switch 2.”
“It's also really distinct to me that at this point we've seen very few proper Switch 2 versions. I don't think we've seen anything yet, especially from third-party developers. Obviously, we don't see the sky of men, and I think there's another or two of them. But, in fact, it's a very slow trick tricking title title title titles tattoo that that switch tht switch 2 version.
“I really want to see more action in that aspect. I hope it's a temporary thing,” Mackenzie concluded. “I hope that in a year or two we look back and we're like, it's a very strange decision, but it's fixed in time. I hope that's what we're watching.”
Earlier today, it was reported Nintendo plans to have direct directness and directness in September this yearfans want a high voice for Metroid Prime 4 and Mario details.
Tom Phillips is the news editor for IGN. You can reach Tom at [email protected] or find him on the Blues @tomphillipseg.bsky.social