Switch 2 sales surge but development kits remain limited

Nintendo's new Switch 2 continued to tear through sales targets in July even as developers warn that limited access to development kits could slow the console's software momentum. Circana data shared by industry analyst Mat Piscatella shows the Switch 2 surpassed 2 million units sold in the United States through July, a pace about 75 percent faster than the original Switch at the same point in its life cycle, helping push U.S. hardware spending up 21 percent year over year to $384 million — the highest July hardware total since 2008.

The strong hardware performance translated into a dominant month on software charts. New releases drove July’s rankings, with EA Sports College Football 26 and an EA Sports bundle taking the top two spots and Nintendo’s Donkey Kong Bananza debuting at number three, according to Circana. Overall video game content spending rose about 4 percent to $4.5 billion, the research firm reported, driven by growth in mobile and subscription services that offset a decline in console software spending.

Despite the commercial highs, multiple developers and industry analysts told Digital Foundry that obtaining Switch 2 development kits remains difficult three...