Nintendo Switch 2 has a secret problem that could cripple third party support

There’s a reason so few new third party games have been revealed since the Switch 2 launch and it could be a ticking time bomb for Nintendo.

Although by all accounts the Switch 2 has been a great success commercially and, in terms of Mario Kart World, critically, it is peculiar how few games have been announced so far, and how even many of those that have been confirmed do not yet have firm release dates.

Although Nintendo does as Nintendo will, it does seem peculiar given how much time they’ve had to prepare for the console’s launch, with no outside constraint on when they release it (which makes you wonder why they chose June).

A new Nintendo Direct is rumoured for the end of the month but new claims suggest that the lack of news is not intentional on the part of Nintendo, but a result of them not being able to get enough devkits to third party companies in time.

That doesn’t explain why there’s been so few first party games so far, but according to the normally reliable Nate the Hate, it’s a miracle that there’s been as many third party titles as there has.

In terms of the volume of games, from all different kinds of publishers, the Switch 2 launch line-up was pretty good but since then very few third party games have been announced, even when it’s seemed they’d be easy to port to the Switch 2.

This is apparently because Nintendo has been slow to get devkits – the modified version of a console used to create games – into the hands of developers, especially ‘AA and low-AAA developers.’

According to Nate the Hate many developers still don’t have a devkit even now and that’s going to create a major gap in the Switch 2’s schedules, when it comes to third party titles.

Incredibly though, it’s suggested that even close partners like Ubisoft, Bandai Namco, Capcom, and Sega don’t have enough devkits to go around, even though most of them had launch titles.

Apparently even Microsoft is affected, with the suggestion that they may not announce any significant support until 2026.

‘They [all third party developers] have games they want to announce for the platform. They have a lot of support coming to this platform,’ says Nate.

Speaking in the same podcast, Modern Vintage Gamer suggests that up to two-thirds of all publishers and developers who made games for the Switch 1 do not have Switch 2 devkits.

What neither source can say though, is how much of this is intentional. Considering Nintendo only had one major first party title available at launch, and relied on third party title Cyberpunk 2077 to prove the power of the new system, there’s absolutely no reason for them to discourage third party support.

It may be some kind of logistical problem but perhaps most likely is that it’s the result of Nintendo’s infamous secrecy and paranoia, even though most basic details of the Switch 2 leaked out before its reveal.

However, they are especially worried about piracy at the moment, as several unfair banning incidents have made clear, so they may have been concerned that giving too many companies access to the hardware before launch may have led to it getting into the wrong hands.

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