The launch of the Nintendo Switch 2 has seem limited third-party support with many major releases asking players to enjoy the original Switch versions of games on their new machine. Since release, numerous developers have complained about the lack of dev kits supplied by Nintendo, stopping studios from bringing their games to the handheld.

In an interview with FGZ, free-to-play football game developer Eugene Nashilov claimed that Nintendo is actively not supplying development kits of Nintendo Switch 2 hardware to free-to-play developers.

Nashilov, who is the CEO of UFL studio Strikerz, claimed that the lack of dev kits specifically for free-to-play studios is a “global trend”. While many studios want to develop new versions of their games to supply Switch 2 players with more games, they simply can’t get access.

“The Switch 2 version [of UFL] is not yet in development, but it will be. As of right now, Nintendo is not actively giving development kits to free-to-play developers. That’s a global trend, and we’re a part of that. Once we have our hands on the new device and we start working with it, then we will most likely be making a Switch 2 port,” the CEO said.

While this exact claim has not been used by other studios, major free-to-play titles have been unable to get access to free-to-play hardware since release. For example, in an interview with VideoGamer, Marvel Rivals game director Guangyun Chen explained that the studio still weren’t able to get their hands on a development kit months after launch.

Via GamesIndustry, countless developers during the recent Gamescom 2025 trade show in late August complained about the lack of development kits with some claiming Nintendo is attempting to “exert some kind of quality control” by “prioritising dev kit access for teams that have passed some kind of internal vetting process.

However, this has caused some understandable ire with fans as both first and third-party support has been slow since launch. While a lot of games are launching in the Switch ecosystem, specific Switch 2 versions with enhancements are rare. This has also meant that unpopular releases have been seen as a waste such as the indie campfire social room title, Chillin’ By The Fire.

Nevertheless, this situation does seem to be somewhat improving. While there may still be a large number of teams without access to development hardware, some major studios are finally getting access to their required tools.

Digital Extremes, the studio behind Warframe, announced in a development update, that they finally have a dev kit to create a Switch 2 specific version of the game.

“We are working on Switch 2 stuff by the way. I don’t think that needs to be secret any more,” said CEO Steve Sinclair. “We finally have… thanks to our friends at Nintendo, we are on it, and there’s a lot of amazing things that are happening.”

With a new Nintendo Direct airing on Friday, September 12, 2025, we should hopefully see a new wave of both first and third-party Nintendo Switch 2 releases very soon.