TECH NEWS – Matthew Cassells, founder of Alderon Games, says Nintendo’s next-gen platform may be hamstrung not just by hardware—but by outdated software too.

We’ve already reported on the underwhelming quality of the Nintendo Switch 2’s display, but now another issue has emerged—this time on the software side. Speaking on the latest episode of the Broken Silicon podcast by Moore’s Law is Dead, Matthew Cassells discussed a range of software limitations that could impact the new system’s gaming performance. Among the chief concerns is Nintendo’s continued use of the FAT32 and exFAT file systems—legacy formats that bring significant drawbacks. For instance, FAT32 enforces a 4GB file size cap, which forces developers to use lower-quality assets or fragment large files into chunks.

Cassells questions why Nintendo sticks with these outdated systems, especially when it means paying Microsoft licensing fees without tangible benefits. In contrast, PlayStation uses open-source Linux-based file systems free from such limitations. What’s more, Nintendo imposes strict limits on how often a game can write to internal NAND memory, a measure closely enforced during game and patch approval processes to protect cheaper memory chips from premature failure. Cassells speculates that these limitations are a cost-saving tactic—but at what cost to performance and developer freedom?

The software constraints don’t end there. Cassells highlights that system resources are heavily reserved for the OS and GameChat features, while encryption and DRM protections further burden developers. Given Nintendo’s aggressive anti-piracy stance, this isn’t shocking—but it does make development more difficult. And since only a handful of developers reportedly have Switch 2 dev kits, many are forced to guess how to optimize their games for the platform.

Though some of these limitations could affect games more significantly over time, for now, they don’t seem to impact user experience. After all, the Switch 2 already surprised players by running Cyberpunk 2077—proof that the console’s capabilities may still outshine its constraints.

Source: WCCFTech