As Nintendo Switch 2 steadily approaching its one-year anniversary, its development kit remains in dire supply, preventing studios of all sizes from properly supporting the console with content. According to a recent report, these delivery issues have now been going on long enough to have begun to frustrate even some seasoned developers with multiple successful Switch games to their name.
Thousands of developers have been unsuccessfully trying to obtain Switch 2 dev kits since long before Nintendo's latest console hit store shelves on June 5, 2025. Initially, reports from industry insiders suggested Nintendo was wary of sharing development kits ahead of the console's official reveal. While it's standard industry practice to provide unreleased hardware to studios, Nintendo has historically been more selective about early developer partners than Sony and Microsoft, so the decision didn't raise many eyebrows at the time. But after the long-awaited Switch 2 launch came and went in June, it became clear that protection against leaks was only part of the equation for Nintendo because it didn't have that many dev kits to begin with. In fact, it still doesn't.
One of the best Wii U games was Shadow Dropped for Switch 2
One of the highest rated Wii U games now has an official Switch 2 version, which was digitally shadowed and will soon get a physical release.
Switch 2's invite-only bottleneck
Eight months and 17 million Switch 2 sales later, the situation seems somehow worse, at least from the perspective of someone who doesn't work for one of the industry giants. A recent report from Danish outlet Arkaden raises some concerns from such professionals, who are said to be growing increasingly frustrated with Nintendo due to the ongoing situation. While the report doesn't name anyone in the European gaming industry by name, it dismisses recent rumors that the supply of Switch 2 dev kits is winding down, insisting that it remains in a state of severe shortage.
Rearrange the cases in the correct US release order.
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Rearrange the cases in the correct US release order.
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Switch 2 Dev Kits may not be in short supply as much as withheld
Some of Arcade's sources paint the current situation as less of a logistics issue and more of a result of deliberate corporate policy, not least because Nintendo still won't accept dev kit applications as of February 2026. The Japanese gaming giant has yet to offer any concrete reasons for the hiatus, the most obvious benefit of which is that it helps maintain third-party support for the company's latest console. The fact that the Switch 2 has been readily available worldwide for six of its first eight months on the market is another indication that the lack of development kits is by design.
Nintendo Switch 2 Dev Kit Updates Timeline
- January 16, 2025: After formally announcing its new console, Nintendo said it was “not accepting requests” for the Switch 2 developer environment at the time.
- April 3, 2025: Reports suggest that some of the industry's biggest publishers who didn't already support the Switch 2 launch secured a limited number of dev kits.
- June 5, 2025: Switch 2 released globally; still no meaningful updates on dev kit availability for smaller devs.
- August 26, 2025: Digital Foundry reports that Nintendo is telling developers to only make Switch 1 games because they're compatible with Switch 2.
- August 28, 2025: The last of the widespread Switch 2 shortages is over, and consumer supply is thus stabilizing before dev access.
- 30 December 2025: Imran Khan reports that dev kit supply is “largely” resolved
- 23 January 2026: a new Arkaden report citing many industry insiders claims that there are major flaws going on in the Siwtch 2 dev kit
Nintendo's deliberate handling of the dev kit rollout is already hampering some Switch 2 upgrades for older games, with their creators repeatedly stressing as much in response to fan requests. Back in August, reports surfaced that Nintendo was even actively discouraging smaller third-party developers from making short-term Switch 2 plans. Instead, its representatives are said to have suggested focusing on Switch 1 games and relying on the Switch 2's backwards compatibility for now.
While the differences between successive console generations are arguably narrowing in terms of graphical fidelity, that really only applies to traditional home consoles. Handhelds and hybrid devices like the Switch 2 still deliver significant technological improvements every few years. That's largely because their manufacturers are forced to wrestle with a much tighter balance between power, thermals and battery life, so any meaningful jump in performance per watt tends to be much more obvious. As such, there's currently no shortage of developers ready to release the Switch 1's 2017 RAM and 2018 SoC – the only question is when Nintendo will let them.
Sources: Nintendo Everything, Digital Foundry
