Nintendo's biggest missed opportunity with the launch of the Switch 2

Nintendo has found unprecedented levels of success with the launch of the Switch 2. Sales so far have made it the fastest-selling console of all time, and it’s only been available for about two months. But a serious issue is becoming increasingly apparent with each passing day. So far, Mario Kart World and Donkey Kong Bananza have been successes for different reasons, and there are plenty of great third-party games at launch as well, with more promised on the way. But the number of third-party and indie teams that seem not to have a Switch 2 dev kit might be a huge missed opportunity.

The number of development teams without Switch 2 dev kits feels like a missed opportunity

The last few weeks have had some slightly underwhelming showcases from Nintendo. Expectations might have been too high, but I have trouble arguing that last week’s Partner Showcase was anything but underwhelming. When games like Monster Hunter Stories 3 and Octopath Traveler 0 are the major takeaways, it begs the question of where other third-party teams were. Personally, I thought this week’s Indie World showcase was excellent, but that’s at least partly because half the games were already on my Steam wishlist. I can understand why some other viewers were hoping for games like Hades 2 to make an appearance.

But one thing these two presentations have made clear is that the wider third-party community has not had enough time with Switch 2 dev kits, if they’ve had any time at all. Basically, unless they were included in that initial Switch 2 Direct in April, it doesn’t seem like many developers are included, even if Nintendo is highlighting their game in one of these showcases.

For example, one of the shadow drops from yesterday’s Indie World showcase was an adorable puzzle game, Is This Seat Taken? It’s a unique puzzle game where you drag and drop people to their desired seat on a bus, in a restaurant, in a movie theater, etc., based on their various preferences. Two friends may want to sit next to each other, but one wants an aisle seat, while the other wants to be away from anyone who will be talking loudly. It’s not the most challenging puzzle game in the world, but it’s creative.

I played the demo earlier this summer and really enjoyed it, so I was already looking forward to the full release. Lo and behold, it suddenly launches on the Switch during Indie World. My first thought is “this will be so great with the Switch 2 mouse controls!” A feature that I was curious about but had virtually no reason to actually use so far.

Unfortunately, thanks to a reply on social media, the developers at Poti Poti Studio have confirmed that they do not have a dev kit yet for the Switch 2. This means they haven’t been able to take advantage of the new console's features, such as mouse controls, but according to the post, “…it is in [their] ToDo list…”. The question has popped up on social media, Reddit, and even the YouTube comment section of the trailer, so clearly, fans saw the opportunity. This could have been the Switch 2’s Snipperclips.

Of course, this is a nuanced situation. Some developers have a dev kit, some do not. I don’t claim to have insider information about how Nintendo is handling this. There could be a limited number of dev kits, or there could be more onus on the development teams to advocate for one. But when 18 games are revealed at the Nintendo Indie World Showcase and only 5 of them have a Switch 2 version, that feels like a missed opportunity.

• Nintendo
• indie games
• Nintendo Switch
• Nintendo Switch 2