There has been a lot of demand for the newest Nintendo console, the Nintendo Switch 2.

After selling over 5 million copies in the first month, alongside over 1.6 million copies sold for Mario Kart World, it’s safe to say that the gaming world has Nintendo Switch 2 fever.

That fever is also spreading to third-party developers. Suda51 of Grasshopper Manufacture recently expressed interest in bringing his next game, Romeo Is a Dead Man, to the Switch 2. He said that they’re in the process of testing to see if the game performs well on the Switch 2. We’ve also seen several major third-party releases launch on Switch 2, such as the upcoming Borderlands 4.

However, according to a report by Digital Foundry, these are the exception, not the norm, in terms of having access to putting their games on the Switch 2.

Third-Party Developers Are Still Struggling To Get Their Hands On Switch 2 Dev Kits

Following Gamescom, Digital Foundry talked about what they’ve heard from third-party devs when it comes to getting their hands on Switch 2 dev kits. Apparently, it’s still a lot easier said than done.

“Nintendo seems to almost be discouraging Switch 2 development, to some degree,” said John Linneman. “I’ve spoken with plenty of developers where they were told…they should just ship it on Switch 1 and rely on backwards compatibility.”

Despite the demand from third-party devs to ship Switch 2 versions of their games, it’s something that they’re struggling with even three months after launch. It has people openly questioning their strategy when it comes to deciding who gets dev kits.

“Some months ago, when we were, you know, hearing things through the grapevine and talking to people, there were some weird exclusions with some big developers struggling to get kits for games, from what we’ve heard,” added Oliver Mackenzie.

It’s something that some third-party developers have openly come out to say themselves. Marvel Rivals developer NetEase has said that the reason why the game isn’t on Switch 2 is because, as of last month, they were still in the process of obtaining a development kit. Warframe developer Digital Extremes said the same thing: they cannot put Warframe on the Switch 2 because they don’t have a dev kit.

Demand for the Switch 2 is higher than anyone could have anticipated, and it seems that everyone is struggling to keep up. Whether or not this trend continues is uncertain, but if the Switch 2 wants to continue to have strong third-party support in addition to games like Cyberpunk 2077, Borderlands 4, and Elden Ring, it’ll need to find ways to get more dev kits into the hands of more developers.

Brand

Nintendo

Original Release Date

June 5, 2025