8% of developers in a GDC survey say they’re working on Nintendo’s next console

There’s an interesting detail in a previous rumor about Nintendo’s next console that we need to reexamine a week later.

A new report offers more clarity on the future of the Nintendo Switch 2, and the key piece of news that it delivers actually supports two major rumors about the upcoming console. Nintendo has generally kept quiet about plans for a Switch successor, but that hasn't stopped speculation from running wild for years. In more recent months, things have transitioned from more random conjecture to reasonably grounded analysis of reports about the console, which seems set to arrive in the near future despite the lack of any official announcement from Nintendo.

Kenney Vleugels, a game developer known for releasing thousands of free assets, says they've been barred from select Global Game Jam events after criticizing the organization's decision to accept AI companies as sponsors. 

Palworld has come under fire over the past few days for "stolen" and "lazy" designs, with some even accusing developer Pocketpair of using AI to create its Pokemon-like creatures. CEO Takuro Mizobe, however, has denied these "slanderous comments", revealing that he even received death threats over them.

Amid the explosive launch of Palworld, its developers have taken to social media to say they have received death threats.

Leaks have insisted for a while now that Nintendo’s next-gen console is set to launch in the second half of 2024, and with the Switch not far away from entering its eighth year, that doesn’t seem hard to believe in the slightest. Of course, if the Switch’s successor is indeed just months away from launching, you’d assume that at least some developers in the industry will have access to development kits so they can work on games for the console- and sure enough, as per a GDC survey, that does seem to be the case.

Each year, the Game Developers Conference publishes its State of the Game Industry report — a survey that asks thousands of game developers about the industry and their own work. It’s no secret that 2023 was a challenging year for the video game industry, even after major bestselling game releases, like The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom and Baldur’s Gate 3. Independent, community-driven estimates suggest that more than 10,000 game developers may have been laid off last year, up from more than 8,500 workers in 2022. Thousands of workers across video game companies and adjacent workplaces have already been let go in 2024 as the industry grapples with how to move forward.

Much of the gaming world is holding its breath in anticipation of the Switch 2, or whatever Nintendo decides to call the follow-up to its hybrid console. For now, we know nothing about it, but it seems developers are already working on titles for the mystery machine (not to be confused with the van from Scooby-Doo).

In a survey asking over 3,000 developers what platform they're currently developing for, 8% responded with the Nintendo Switch successor. 

A growing number of video game developers are now quietly working on projects for Nintendo's unannounced Switch 2.

A new survey has revealed that there are already a significant number of developers working on games for the Nintendo Switch 2.

35 percent of game developers have been impacted by layoffs in the last 12 months and half are concerned more job cuts are on the way. That's according to GDC's newly published 2024 State of the Game Industry report, which highlights current sentiment among developers based on a snapshot of 3,000 industry professionals polled.