Why There Aren't Many Ports of Games on Switch 2… Yet

Gizmodo

2 days ago

Nintendo wants all the games coming to its Switch 2 to emphasize the features that make it distinct from the original Switch. After all, why else would consumers drop $450 on a new handheld when many are still holding onto their 8-year-old device? If you were twiddling your thumbs waiting for developers to port your favorite games to the Switch 2, know that they may be coming, but only after developers can show they'll emphasize the new system's best—or at least distinctive—qualities.
Over the last few months, murmurs from the developer community have hinted Nintendo has held back dev kits from some studios, and now we have a better idea why. In now-deleted posts to its LinkedIn page, Poland-based studio Lynxbyte shared what Nintendo wants from developers in order to receive a dev kit to port their games. YouTuber Doctre81 shared these posts from LynxByte in a video, and the LinkedIn posts have already made the rounds on Bluesky.
If LynxByte's explanation is correct, then Nintendo isn't interested if a game already runs on the original Switch. The entire point is to show off the Switch 2's capabilities. Nintendo 'prioritizes' games that 'take advantage' of the Switch 2's hardware. This could be showing off games running at 4K resolution and 60 fps or titles that support the Joy-Con 2 mouse mode. The more developers can emphasize features, including GameChat for quick and dirty video calls or even improved rumble in the official controllers, the greater their chances at securing a dev kit. Nintendo individually approves companies and greenlights titles. Partner studios obviously get the fast-lane treatment.
Nintendo's latest Direct game showcases haven't left us with many surprises. Many of the games in the most recent Indie World Showcase emphasized they were coming to the original Switch, rather than Switch 2. Upcoming titles like Mina the Hollower, Content Warning, and Ball X Pit will be emphasized for both platforms, though you'll still be able to play any OG Switch titles on the sequel handheld. Games like Glaciered will be exclusive to Switch 2. The July 31 Nintendo Direct showcased ports of games like Persona 3 Reload and Apex Legends as exclusive to Switch 2. It's unclear how those games or new titles like 007: First Light are embellishing the Switch 2's features, but likely it will be in performance as well as Joy-Con 2 mouse controls.
The details revealed by LynxByte also revealed extra information we didn't know about Nintendo's handheld, despite having it in hand for more than two months. We were already well aware the Switch 2 supports Nvidia's deep learning super sampling tech, or DLSS, for AI upscaling. DLSS takes frames rendered at a lower resolution and bumps them up to a higher resolution while enhancing the overall frame rate. We just didn't know what version of DLSS the Switch 2 was using. The leaks show Nintendo's Nvidia-made chipset supports DLSS 3.1, which first launched in 2023. That's the version before the advent of DLSS 3.5 with enhanced ray-traced lighting techniques and the current DLSS 4 with improved 'neural' upscaling. The latest version of Nvidia's upscaler uses trained AI models to make textures and geometry look sharper compared to previous versions.
This all checks out, as leaked Switch 2 specs support Nvidia and Nintendo's joint choice to go with Ampere-level graphics performance that was first introduced back in 2020. You could compare the Switch 2's performance to the lower-end GeForce RTX 30-series cards, which is impressive enough for a handheld. We've seen ports like Cyberpunk 2077 perform even better than their counterparts on handhelds like the Steam Deck. Other ports like Street Fighter 6 also run at a steady clip.
Then there are anticipated ports of titles like Star Wars Outlaws, which is set to launch on Switch 2 on Sept 4. Some fans watching the July 31 Direct were flabbergasted by the trailer's muddy textures, lower detail, and odd visual hiccups that made the game look worse than it appeared on PC or PlayStation 5/Xbox Series X. Ubisoft RedLynx, which is working with the original game developers Massive Entertainment, mentioned it had added extra features like touch controls in certain minigames to 'enhance immersion.' While we have to wait to see if the port can match the performance of Cyberpunk 2077, it's clear that adding those Switch 2 exclusive features was a big reason this port is coming sooner than others.