Nintendo Responds to Claims of Swap 2 Replace Breaking Third-Celebration Docks

Nintendo says it didn’t deliberately break third-party Swap 2 docks with the newest working system replace for its hybrid console. Nevertheless, the corporate’s response makes use of some ambiguous language, leaving room for interpretation concerning the way it views choose third-party Switch 2 equipment.

Recognized by model quantity 21.0.0, the latest iteration of the Swap OS rolled out internationally on Monday, November 10. Quickly after, experiences surfaced alleging that the November 2025 update had bricked some third-party Switch 2 docks.

Nintendo Denies Deliberately Bricking Third-Celebration Swap 2 Docks

The Japanese gaming big has now denied disabling third-party Switch 2 dock functionality on goal. “Nintendo doesn’t have any intention to hinder or invalidate authorized third-party dock compatibility,” an organization consultant informed IGN. “Nintendo Swap 2 outputs audiovisuals as soon as it detects that it’s docked right into a Nintendo Swap 2 Dock,” they clarified, including that the unique “Swap does the identical.”

What Nintendo Would possibly Imply by a ‘Authorized’ Swap 2 Dock

The official didn’t clarify what precisely “authorized” means within the context of their assertion. Though the Switch 2 User Agreement makes no point out of both first- or third-party docks, it does explicitly prohibit “use of any {hardware} or software program that may trigger the Console or the Software program to function with any unauthorized, unlawful, or pirated software program or {hardware}.” On this context, a “authorized” third-party accent could possibly be one that doesn’t infringe on Nintendo’s mental property or violates anti-piracy legal guidelines in a given jurisdiction.

nintendo-switch-2-bricked-some-docks-game-rant

Alternatively, “authorized” may merely seek advice from being spec-compliant. Whereas Nintendo doesn’t formally help third-party docks for its newest console, the machine nonetheless depends on a mixture of normal protocols and proprietary handshakes that accent makers can try to reverse-engineer, with various levels of success. As a result of the brand new Switch 2 firmware update didn’t break all third-party docks, it is doable that the adjustments it launched disrupted units constructed round extra fragile, “hacky” implementations of that handshake, whereas leaving extra strong and technically subtle approaches unaffected.

Nintendo doesn’t have any intention to hinder or invalidate authorized third-party dock compatibility.

Why Nintendo Has Little Incentive to Intentionally Disable Third-Celebration Swap 2 Docks

Though Nintendo doesn’t supply an official certification program for third-party Swap 2 docks, it seems to have little incentive to deliberately disable reliable third-party equipment. Whereas some would possibly argue that the corporate may benefit from steering customers towards its $124.99 official dock, that accent is already included with each Swap 2 unit offered. There’s additionally no proof of serious demand for extra docks, suggesting that customers in search of multiples are a small minority. As such, Nintendo seemingly has restricted monetary motivation to limit third-party Swap 2 dock compatibility.