How to launch your game on Nintendo Switch

Launching a game on Nintendo Switch involves more than compiling the project for a new target: there is a formal developer registration process, adaptation to the console's specific hardware, and a certification process of Nintendo's own before any game reaches the eShop. This guide covers how each part works.

Before you start — Nintendo Developer Portal and NDA

To get access to development kits and Nintendo's technical documentation you need to register as a developer through the Nintendo Developer Portal. The process normally requires the studio to already be a formally incorporated entity, and involves signing a non-disclosure agreement (NDA), since much of the technical documentation and the development tools are restricted Nintendo material.

Adapting the game to Switch hardware

The Nintendo Switch — and the Switch 2, released more recently with more powerful hardware — has one particularity that weighs heavily on a port: the same game has to run well both in TV mode (docked) and in handheld mode, where processing power and battery are more limited. Part of the market solves this with dynamic resolution and different graphics settings between the two modes. At Nuntius, so far, every one of our games has shipped with the same graphics configuration in both modes: the goal is to make the numbers work in handheld mode, which is the tighter scenario, and let TV mode inherit that same configuration.

Controls deserve attention of their own: the game needs to work well both with the Joy-Con (including handheld use, with the controllers attached to the console) and with the Pro Controller, and the button layout needs to follow the conventions Nintendo expects for that kind of input.

Age rating

Before submitting for certification, the game needs a valid age rating for the territories where it will be sold. In practice, the route Nuntius uses is IARC: a single questionnaire that produces the rating accepted by the digital stores across several territories, without a paid review per board. CERO, in Japan, is only required when there is a physical release, and it carries a cost of its own — so it does not come into a digital launch. This usually happens in parallel with the game's technical preparation, since the rating result also has to appear correctly on the eShop page.

What Lotcheck is (Nintendo's certification process)

Lotcheck is the name of Nintendo's internal certification process: before any game is approved for release, the final build goes through a battery of tests run by Nintendo itself, checking everything from technical stability (crashes, behaviour in sleep mode, correct error handling) to compliance with interface guidelines, correct use of age-rating icons and appropriate behaviour of the system buttons.

It is common for a submission to fail on the first attempt — finding a problem in Lotcheck does not mean the project has a serious defect, only that some item on the technical checklist needs adjusting before a new submission. Because of that, it is normal to reserve time in the schedule for more than one Lotcheck cycle before final approval.

Store page and promotional material

The game's page on the Nintendo eShop follows its own set of image specifications (cover art, screenshots, videos), usually prepared in parallel with the final technical certification phase, so the game already has a page ready as soon as it is approved.

Physical release

Beyond the digital release on the eShop, there is the possibility of a physical cartridge release, normally through manufacturing and distribution partners that specialise in that kind of production for Nintendo consoles.

At Nuntius this is assessed case by case. It is not the default — the work always starts with digital — but it is a real possibility, and it depends on the title, on the audience it already has and on the volume that would justify a print run. If a physical release matters to your project, it is worth saying so right in the pitch.

How Nuntius Games helps with your Switch launch

Porting and certification for Nintendo Switch is one of the fronts Nuntius Games works on as a publisher — from registration on the Nintendo Developer Portal through to following the Lotcheck submissions, the studio does not have to face that process alone.

In practice, Nuntius runs the whole process: registration and paperwork on Nintendo's portal, adapting the build, QA, Lotcheck submission and the rounds of fixes until approval. The studio follows the deliveries; dealing with the manufacturer's requirements is on Nuntius.

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