Module 03
Dev access and development kits
Registration is not the same thing as being allowed to build for Switch. A second application, an NDA, and official hardware all sit between you and a real console build.
Accept the NDA, then apply for Switch access
Nintendo’s process page says that after you create the account you sign in and “accept the Non-Disclosure Agreement and Terms of Service to gain access to platform SDKs, developer support, and more information on how to get started.” It then states, plainly: “Access to Nintendo Switch information requires a separate application after registration.”
The registration page tells you where that form lives: in the Getting Started section, after you have registered. It is called the Nintendo Switch Access Request. Nintendo asks you to “enter your development experience history and information on your planned project in the request.” A separate portal notice also says you should apply after registering, and asks you to understand that “it will take time to review your application.”
Sources: The Process; Register; Development for Nintendo Platforms
What to put in the project description
Be specific and honest. Super Tank Battles is a small 2D artillery game, first shipping as a browser game at supertank.rendell.org.uk, with a planned native port. Say that you are a first-time console developer if that is true. Do not over-claim a team, an engine, or a ship date you do not have. A draft text is in the prep kit, ready for you to edit before you paste anything into Nintendo’s form.
Switch 2 access is a different request — and it is closed
The Switch access request on the public registration page is about Nintendo Switch. The Switch 2 page is separate, and as of 15 November 2026 Nintendo is not accepting requests for the Switch 2 development environment. Do not assume that Switch approval includes Switch 2. Watch the official announcement page.
Development hardware
You cannot treat a retail Switch in a shop as a development kit. Nintendo’s public FAQ groups the remaining cost, after free registration and free digital IARC ratings, as “the cost of acquiring development hardware,” and says you will find more information inside the portal. Godot’s public console documentation says you need “a console specially made for developers (devkit)” and that “the cost of those devkits is confidential.”
Sources: Nintendo Developer Portal FAQ; Console support in Godot; Godot — Console Support
Behind the NDA
Exact kit models, what each unit can do, how you order them, lead times, and the price list are not on the public website. You will only see them after access is granted and you are inside the portal under NDA. This course will not invent a price, a model name, or a delivery time.
Unverified
Some commercial blogs quote approximate dollar figures for a Switch kit. Those figures are not confirmed by Nintendo’s public pages and may be out of date. Ignore them for budgeting until you can read the official price in the portal, or get a written quote from Nintendo or a porting partner who already has kits.
Who to ask
For account or development-process questions, Europe (and other regions outside Japan and Korea) is directed to support@noa.nintendo.com. Publishing questions for Europe go to agreements_publisher@nintendo.de.
GameMaker’s public console-access article, updated 22 October 2026, also tells European and Australian developers to contact developers@nintendo.eu to pitch a project. That address is GameMaker’s published guidance, not Nintendo’s own contact page. If you use it, treat Nintendo’s portal contacts as the primary list and keep a record of whatever reply you receive.
Sources: Nintendo Contact; GameMaker — Application Process for Console Access
What you can usefully do while you wait
Approval is not instant, and Switch 2 may remain closed for some time. You can still:
- Finish and lock the design of the browser game, so the port has a stable target.
- Start a Godot or Unity prototype on PC that mirrors the same rules (module 4).
- Collect store-page writing, screenshots from the web build, and age-rating notes in the prep kit.
- Ask porting houses or publishers for informal timelines, without sharing anything that would later fall under Nintendo’s NDA.