According to a recent report, many notable developers haven’t received Switch 2 development kits to improve their Switch 1 games. I suspect backward compatibility is to blame.
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On paper, the Nintendo Switch 2’s backward compatibility is a welcome feature that lets you revisit Switch 1 games in two ways. One method, simply popping an old game into the new system, lets you play, but the title isn’t guaranteed a performance boost. In fact, it may play worse. The second method? Native Switch 2 Editions of previously released games, such as Civilization VII, Fortnite, and Hogwarts Legacy, that bring titles designed for the original, underpowered system up to par with their versions on other platforms. However, there aren’t many of those. Although I didn’t expect Nintendo to sunset the Nintendo Switch 1 any time soon, I did expect more titles to leverage the Nintendo Switch 2’s power. But after IGN Live, Summer Game Fest, two Nintendo Directs, and Gamescom, a surprising trend has emerged: A notable lack of cross-platform titles optimized for the Switch 2. With its current implementation, Nintendo’s backward compatibility is more of a curse than a blessing. Backward Compatibility Is Hurting Switch 2 Ports
There’s some truth to that feeling. In a recent episode of Digital Foundry’s podcast, the Direct Weekly, John Linneman and Oliver Mackenzie reported that they spoke to numerous developers at Gamescom who were unable to get development kits to make Switch 2 games. What they were told by developers is shocking.
«Nintendo seems to be almost discouraging Switch 2 development to some degree», Linneman said. «I’ve spoken with plenty of developers where they were either told that they should just ship it on Switch 1 and rely on backward compatibility. There’s a lot of developers that are unable to get Switch 2 dev kits. We talked to a lot of devs at Gamescom this year, and so many of them said the same things. They want to ship on Switch 2. They would love to do Switch 2 versions. They can’t get the hardware.»
I’m sure I’m not the only person who wants to make the Switch 2 their primary console. In fact, there are some games that I consider potentially good Switch 2 titles. Shinobi: Art of Vengeance, a game I absolutely love, is one example. There’s a Switch 1 version, but the demo confirmed what I feared: Shinobi is seriously compromised, with abysmal resolution in both handheld and docked modes.
