Nintendo still hasn’t shared more Switch 2 dev kits, at least for smaller and independent game developers in the US.
In the latest episode of the Nate The Hate podcast, Nate and his co host Modern Vintage Gamer share a disappointing and perplexing update on this situation. As they have pointed out, it’s been a month since the launch of the console, but Nintendo has not started distributing more Switch 2 dev kits, and they haven’t even been contacting game companies about their interest in them.
Notably, Imran Khan claimed that Embracer Group did not receive any dev kits because Nintendo deemed them to be too ‘chaotic’ at the time that they were undergoing a large scale reorganization. Modern Vintage Gamer works at Limited Run Games, so he can personally attest for his studio, and other studios, that they have been trying to get dev kits from Nintendo and they have been getting turned down.
Nate claims a developer who tried to get a dev kit received this response from Nintendo:
You don’t need a Switch 2 devkit right now because you’re still focusing on Switch One software.
When the developer indicated their desire to make a native Switch 2 port of their game, Nintendo said this:
Well, no, these releases aren’t a priority for us.
Nate and Modern Vintage Gamer then speculated on whether Nintendo was favoring bigger companies over smaller game developers, but as we would like to remind everyone, the launch year of the Nintendo Switch was a gold rush for indie games, as the platform didn’t get the large scale third party support that gamers were hoping for.
We are also still waiting on Activision to make good on their promise to bring Call of Duty to Nintendo platforms, one that’s borne from a legally binding agreement and they recommitted to just last month.
There are even more rumors of AAA games coming to the platform that have not yet been announced. While we empathize with the smaller devs who may feel stonewalled by their contacts at Nintendo, the circumstantial evidence hints at there still being a limited supply of Switch 2 dev kits. Nintendo may be having trouble manufacturing and especially distributing them as much as they are actual Switch 2 consoles.
If we were honest, it is probably true that a small amount of new games won’t be that big an issue for Nintendo yet, not while they’re still working on catching up to demand and making the console widely available. Loyal Nintendo customers may also be occupied testing their original Switch library on the Switch 2, aside from their focus being placed on the big games in Mario Kart World, Cyberpunk 2077, and the upcoming Donkey Kong Bananza. And then there’s speculation that Nintendo is prioritizing their Japanese market over the West. Whatever the reasons are, of course we want more games coming to the Switch 2, so we hope that those dev kits start getting spread to more game companies sooner rather than later.
