Report: Embracer Group developers denied Switch 2 devkits

Nintendo has denied Switch 2 devkits to The Embracer Group, new reports indicate.

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Nintendo is taking their time with distributing Switch 2 hardware development kits. Earlier today, Digital Foundry reiterated previous reports that some dev teams are waiting on Switch 2 kits: "Based on a lot of the things I've heard it also seems like many many many many developers are still without," DF's John Linnemann said.

Now there's reports that some companies have been denied devkits altogether. Sources have told games reporter Imran Khan that Embracer was one such group. The reality is that Embracer's business was seen as so volatile and unpredictable that Nintendo didn't want its precious, ultra-secret hardware to go missing should an Embracer subsidiary be shut down.

Embracer faced significant tumult after a $2 billion deal with the Saudi Arabian government fell through. Embracer was going to use that money to pay off debt and re-invest in projects. Now the group has significantly cut its divisions as it tries to weather the current blistering economic landscape. Nintendo didn't just want to hand off a Switch 2 devkit to groups that may simply vanish overnight.

Here's what Imran said on ResetEra:

"I know of at least one kind of big third party that didn't get anything because Nintendo deemed them too chaotic at the moment. They were afraid the kits would go to studios that would then be closed down and then the kits might have gone missing.

"Just to give my notifications a rest, yes, it was Embracer.

"I don't know if their plan changed (this story was from maybe eight months ago), but I know companies that split off from Embracer ended up going back to Nintendo and renegotiating and they were more amenable."