Reggie Fils-Aime, the former president and COO of Nintendo of America, is surprised at the lack of Xbox games on the Nintendo Switch 2 this holiday.
While the new Nintendo handheld has seen the best console launch of any console ever, the hardware has yet to be utilised by a number of developers. Some developers have pointed at a lack of available dev kit with some even saying they’re being actively kept away from specific projects, but the reality is simply that few games are releasing specifically targeting the handheld.
In an interview with The Game Business, Fils-Aime explained their surprise at the lack of Xbox presence on the new handheld. At the time of writing, just one Microsoft title exists on the platform: Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 + 4.
While MachineGames’ Indiana Jones and The Great Circle is coming to the handheld next year as well as Fallout 4: Anniversary Edition, Fils-Aime expected more. With titles like The Outer Worlds 2, Forza Horizon 5 and more available on PlayStation, many would’ve expected a higher Xbox presence on Nintendo’s new handheld.
“I’m surprised that Xbox has not yet fully embraced Switch 2 from a software perspectiv. Certainly, some games could easily be ported over to Switch 2. And I’m surprised that we haven’t seen more of that,” the former Nintendo president said (transcribed by VGC).
“I thought there would be much more,” he continued, “especially during this timeframe leading into the holiday. All through the fall, I was fully expecting some dedicated announcement. And I’m surprised it hasn’t happened.”
Fils-Aime also explained that Xbox is simply out of “direct competition” with “a large part of the Xbox business now being publishing”, making the company’s coyness of supporting Nintendo Switch 2 even weirder.
“In fact, they need support from Sony for Microsoft’s software to reach the largest audience,” the former president said. “And as I said earlier, I think it would be in their best interest to find ways for Xbox software, beyond Minecraft, to make its way onto the Nintendo platform. So, from that standpoint, direct warfare is over.”
Microsoft has committed to supporting the Nintendo Switch 2, at least according to prior agreements and comments from head of Xbox Phil Spencer. In order to complete the acquisition of Activision-Blizzard, Microsoft committed to bringing Call of Duty to Nintendo Switch platforms for 10 years.
At the time of writing, Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 is, annoyingly, still skipping Nintendo gamers with Activision telling Kotaku earlier this year: “We’re committed to getting the franchise on Switch. Both teams are working on it. Will share details when ready.”
Additionally, Spencer himself has claimed that he wants “to support Switch 2” in an interview with Variety. The Xbox executive said: “Nintendo has been a great partner. We think it is a unique way for us to reach players who aren’t PC players, who aren’t players on Xbox. It lets us continue to grow our community of people that care about the franchises that we have, and that’s really important for us to make sure we continue to invest in our games.”
Nevertheless, Xbox, like many publishers, are seemingly dragging their feet when it comes to native Nintendo Switch 2 software, despite the rapid attach rate for the new system. Whether or not this is still due to dev kit issues, which have stopped games like Marvel Rivals from coming to the system, or some other reason, it’s simply just annoying for Switch 2 users.
