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thirdparty

Popular third-party Switch 2 case suffers manufacturing defect in small number of orders, producer promises it’s “working on it”

by admin June 24, 2025

Popular gaming peripheral manufacturer Dbrand has acknowledged a defect affecting a small number of its Project Killswitch Nintendo Switch 2 cases.

This defect impacts the lip attaching the joycons to the Switch 2 screen, disconnecting when the console is held up by a singular joycon. Speaking to influencer Nintendo Prime, the company has stated it’s in the process of fixing the issue.

“Yep, we’re definitely working on it. Ultimately, this is a manufacturing tolerance issue on the small lip keeping the Joy-Con Grips attached to the Joy-Cons (some were a hair too thick),” Dbrand told Nintendo Prime. “We’ve got a replacement program set up already, where anyone who is affected is able to email robots@dbrand.com with ‘July Joy-Cons’ in the subject to be added to the list for replacement stock in July.”

Check out our video review of the Nintendo Switch 2!Watch on YouTube

According to Nintendo Prime, Dbrand also acknowledged this problem was replicable among a “small number of units from their run”. Nintendo Prime didn’t share the exact number he was told, but reemphasised any defective Killswitch cases could be replaced for free in July.

There are plenty of great third-party accessories for the Nintendo Switch 2 – Dbrand’s Killswitch included! These enhance the play experience on what is already a pretty rad console. The only real negative being the battery life, which can drain fairly quickly.

The Switch 2 has proven so tempting, one bloke pilfered over $10,000 worth of Switch games from libraries, one can only assume because he was so excited to play them all on more powerful hardware. It’s not like third-party publishers couldn’t do with the help, as their games struggle to ship in spite of record breaking console sales.

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June 24, 2025 0 comments

Game Reviews

Final Fantasy 14’s most controversial third-party plugin used for in-game stalking has been shut down

by admin June 20, 2025

A controversial third-party plugin used by some Final Fantasy 14 players has been permanently shut down following a cease and desist notice.

A message on the PlayerScope discord (shared on reddit) details the web back-end has been taken offline and all stored data has been “permanently and irreversibly deleted”, while the plugin files have been completely removed from GitHub and GitFlic. “There will be no further updates, support, or development from my side,” said the tool’s creator.

While PlayerScope hasn’t specified where the cease and desist notice has come from, back in January this year Final Fantasy 14 producer and director Naoki Yoshida shared news Square Enix was considering taking legal action against the creator of a third-party tool.

Final Fantasy 14 Patch 7.2 – Seekers of EternityWatch on YouTube

Eurogamer has contacted Square Enix for clarification.

Yoshida has long warned players against using third-party plugins, which are strictly prohibited in Final Fantasy 14. He’s repeatedly called out players for cheating during Ultimate Raid challenges.

However, the PlayerScope tool in particular has been used for nefarious intentions.

The plugin would allow anyone to search for a Final Fantasy 14 character name to receive that player’s account details, including information of all characters on that account. Player information was also uploaded to a central server combining all data. Essentially, this allowed for in-game harassment and stalking.

In short, as one reddit user put it, the plugin was a “stalker’s wet dream”.

“We strive to offer and maintain a safe environment for our players, which is why we ask everyone to refrain from using third-party tools,” said Yoshida back in January.

In February, Square Enix stated it was making changes to how characters were blacklisted, although third-party tools were able to get around this – something the company admitted was “very problematic”. While it had countermeasures in place, Square Enix did not disclose what those were.

Now, however, PlayerScope has been completely shut down. “This wasn’t an easy decision, but it was necessary,” said the tool’s creator.

Still, while players have mostly praised the decision, some have concerns the database of player information may still exist elsewhere.

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June 20, 2025 0 comments

Game Updates

Nintendo Switch 2 Third-Party Developer Claims That Sales Were “Below Our Lowest Estimates”

by admin June 20, 2025

One third-party Nintendo Switch 2 game developer told The Game Business that sales numbers were “below our lowest estimates,” highlighting the lukewarm performance of third-party launch titles in the first two weeks of the Switch 2’s lifespan.

The Nintendo Switch 2 launch lineup consisted of a healthy number of third-party titles, including Konami’s Survival Kids, Square Enix’s Bravely Default Flying Fairy HD Remaster, CD Projekt Red’s Cyberpunk 2077, and more. According to data from Circana, cited by The Game Business, 81% of physical Nintendo Switch 2 game sales were for first-party titles, such as Mario Kart World and the Switch 2 Editions of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. NielsenIQ reports Cyberpunk 2077 has been the best-selling third-party game on Switch 2 so far, while Circana’s data reveals Sega is the third-biggest Switch 2 game publisher.

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Now Playing: Every Switch 2 Launch Game

Circana executive director Mat Piscatella posted on Bluesky that “Third party unit share of Switch 2 physical software during week 1 reached just shy of 40%,” which is almost double what third-party games did at the launch of the Switch 1. The Game Business did point out that improvement over the performance of third-party games on the original Switch, but also explains that “it’s hard to describe these statistics as positive.” That’s understandable, considering the Switch 2 has had one of the most successful console launches of all time, yet an anonymous publisher is claiming that even its lowest estimates overestimated how well third-party games would do on Switch 2.

The release of this information has caused discussions over the negative impact of Game-Key Cards, which are physical game cartridges that don’t contain a game’s full data and still require a download. Kelsey Lewin, owner of Seattle game retailer Pink Gorilla Games, said on Bluesky that Game-Key Card sales have flagged. “We had very low expectations carrying these in-store but can anecdotally confirm: no one is buying these,” Lewin wrote

Niko Partners director of research and insights Daniel Ahmad is less bullish on the idea that Game-Key Cards had a negative impact on third-party Switch 2 sales. “I hate to break it to people, but the ‘I refuse to buy a game for my Nintendo Switch 2 if the physical version is not on the cart’ crowd are both a minority today and will be an even smaller minority in five years,” he posted on X.

While the third-party numbers on Switch 2 aren’t very promising thus far, we’ll see how these games perform in the coming months and years as more brand-new games come to the platform.

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June 20, 2025 0 comments

Game Reviews

Switch 2 third-party sales reportedly mostly “very low” despite record-breaking console launch

by admin June 19, 2025

Switch 2 has got off to a flying start, with Nintendo proudly trumpeting the console as its “fastest-selling hardware ever” just days after launch. But while things are looking rosy for Nintendo, a new report suggests third-party titles have so far struggled, with one third-party publisher saying sales have been “below our lowest estimates”.

That’s according to TheGameBusiness’ Chris Dring, who collated some pertinent sales figures surrounding Switch 2’s launch in his latest newsletter. The key numbers are that 48 percent of physical game sales in the UK (and 62 percent of physical game sales in the US) were first-party titles, if Switch 2’s Mario Kart World bundle is excluded; but if it’s not, 86 percent of Switch 2 physical game sales in the UK were for first-party titles. Nintendo, for context, had three titles available physically at launch: Mario Kart World, plus Switch 2 editions of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom; third-parties released a total of 13 physical games.

Dring notes Switch 2’s figures are an improvement compared to the original Switch’s launch, where 89 percent of UK physical sales were from first-party games, but adds that “most third-party Switch 2 games posted very low numbers”, despite the availability of some big names, including Civilization 7, Split Fiction, Street Fighter, and Hogwarts Legacy (the report’s source, NielsenIQ, does not publicly release video game sales data).

Cyberpunk 2077 did “reasonable numbers” on Switch 2.Watch on YouTube

Speaking to TheGameBusiness, one unnamed third-party publisher painted a bleak picture of its Switch 2 launch sales, saying they’d been “below our lowest estimates”. However, not every third-party release has struggled. Dring says CD Projekt’s Cyberpunk 2077 was the “best-selling third-party game during the launch of Switch 2”, and did “reasonable numbers”.

Dring highlights the fact CD Projekt was one of the few publishers not to opt for Nintendo’s controversial Game Key Cards, which require full downloads to play, and quotes CD Projekt’s Jan Rosner as having previously said, “Do not underestimate the physical edition. It’s not going anywhere and Nintendo players are very appreciative of physical editions that are done right.”

As to why most third-parties have got off to a slow start on Switch 2, Dring suggests a number of reasons in his analysis; there’s the console’s enhanced backward compatibility, for starters, meaning many players (we’ve got some of them here) are likely also delving into the original Switch’s impressive back catalogue right now. That’s alongside a lack of reviews covering third-party games given Nintendo’s decision not to provide early consoles to press, and it’s hard to ignore the fact almost all third-party Switch 2 titles are ports of older games, which many core players have likely already experienced elsewhere.

Despite all this, Dring says many major publishers have told him Nintendo is “actively trying to push third-party games this time around”, so the hope will obviously be that sales pick up once players have had their fill of Mario Kart World. Notable confirmed third-party titles still to release include EA Sports Madden 26 and Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 + 4, while Nintendo’s big hitters include Donkey Kong Bananza and Pokémon Legends: Z-A, plus Switch 2 editions of Super Mario Party Jamboree and Kirby and the Forgotten Land.

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June 19, 2025 0 comments

Major US retailers cancel Nintendo Switch 2 pre-orders

Esports

New report suggests third-party Switch 2 game sales are “below estimates”

by admin June 19, 2025

Though sales of Nintendo’s new Switch 2 hardware had become one of the fastest-selling consoles ever, sales of third-party games have reportedly been sluggish and “below estimates.”

That’s according to a new report by The Game Business, which intimates that despite attracting strong buy-in from partners like EA, Take-Two, Microsoft, Ubisoft, Sega, Capcom, Bandai Namco, Square Enix, CD Projekt, and Konami – and although third-party publishers have fared better with the Switch 2’s launch than its predecessor – “most third-party Switch 2 games posted very low numbers.”

According to NielsenIQ, CD Projekt’s Cyberpunk 2077 is currently the best-selling third-party game of Switch 2’s launch. However, although third-party publishers “appear to have done slightly better during the launch of Switch 2 compared with Switch 1,” report author Christopher Dring added: “It’s hard to describe these statistics as positive.”

“Most third-party Switch 2 games posted very low numbers. One third-party publisher characterised the numbers as ‘below our lowest estimates’, despite strong hardware sales,” Dring writes. “The improvement over the Switch 1 launch is also slightly misleading. For starters, there were more consoles sold this time. Plus, the Switch 1 only launched with five physical games: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, 1-2-Switch, Just Dance 2017, Skylanders Imaginators, and Super Bomberman R. By comparison, the Switch 2 had a wider selection, with 13 physical games available at launch.”

Dring also posited that the lack of early review units for press – which has, in turned, hampered timely reviews – may also have adversely impacted sales as “there were no critical reviews available for them to base their purchasing decisions on.”

Earlier this week, we reported Nintendo Switch 2 has sold more than 1.1 million units in the United States, breaking launch week records for gaming hardware. Hardware sales for the Nintendo Switch 2 have reached almost one million units in Japan, too, making it the country’s biggest console launch to date.

The Game Business newsletter was created and written by GamesIndustry.biz’s former head of games, B2B, Christopher Dring.

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June 19, 2025 0 comments

Product Reviews

Bambu Lab removes third-party app support for P and A series 3D printers

by admin June 9, 2025

A big part of the 3D printing world includes the frequent adoption of open source tools, reinforced by community-driven support. Whether its files for printing or software for processing them, there are plenty of resources online available to enhance your 3D printing experience. Manufacturer Bambu Labs has created obstructions to this trend, however, by banning third party apps from being installed for its P and A series 3D printers.

The change comes from new firmware releases for the P1P, P1S (we love this printer, check out our review of the P1S to see why) and A1 3D printers. The firmware was centered around this specific decision and doesn’t feature any other changes. According to the change logs, printers updated to use this new firmware will reject unofficial software from installing.

In effect, this prevents users from using third-party applications on their machines by default. Thankfully, there are a few ways around this that will still allow you to make the most of your 3D printing workflow using your favorite apps and add-ons. One way is to avoid the update altogether, however this means your printer will be unsupported going forward unless you choose to update it. The other option is to take advantage of Developer Mode, which gives you the authorization to install third party apps.

Microsoft’s Xbox handheld reportedly “sidelined” as it focuses on third-party portable devices

by admin June 1, 2025

Microsoft has reportedly “sidelined” the development of its long-teased first-party handheld gaming device as it focuses its attention on third-party portable opportunities, including ASUS’ Project Kennan, which is supposedly still due this year.

Xbox boss Phil Spencer first discussed an Xbox handheld back in 2017, when he revealed Microsoft had “roughly designed” one in the past, and it’s a subject he’s repeatedly returned to in recent years, fuelling speculation the project had been revived. Then, this March, Windows Central reported Microsoft had settled on a multi-pronged handheld strategy, and would be teaming up with a third-party to release an Xbox-branded portable gaming PC this year under the codename Kennan while it worked on its own internally developed device to release alongside an Xbox Series X/S successor in 2027.

Now, though, Windows Central claims Microsoft has had a bit of a strategic rethink, and development of its own handheld device has been “sidelined”. According to the publication’s source, the company has internally announced it’ll instead “prioritise its teams to improve Windows 11 gaming performance, specifically for devices like the ASUS partner device Project Kennan” (NB. the site originally reported this under the name “Keenan” back in March, but has since updated its original story). It doesn’t sound like Microsoft is completely abandoning its own handheld plans, however; Windows Central says the company “still has big ambitions and is investing heavily to deliver a native Xbox handheld”, but third-party devices and Windows 11 improvements will be where it focuses its resources for now.

As for Project Kennan specifically, the website claims it’s “essentially finished” on the hardware side, but that there’s currently a “significantly boosted effort” between Microsoft’s Xbox and Windows teams to “improve the experience on the software side”. The plan, however, is that the Xbox-branded ASUS device will still launch “later this year”.

Microsoft’s decision to refocus on providing adequate infrastructure for Windows 11-powered third-party devices is perhaps not entirely surprising given increasing competition elsewhere; back in January, Valve announced it’s been working to bring SteamOS, which powers Steam Deck, to third-party handheld gaming, and the operating system is now available on a variety of devices, including recently released official partner machine, the Lenovo Legion Go S.

Beyond its handheld plans, Microsoft continues to developed its Xbox Series X/S successor, which Xbox president Sarah Bond previously claimed would deliver “the largest technical leap that you will have ever seen in a hardware generation.” According to Windows Central, there are currently “three prototype devices in development for Microsoft’s Gen-10 effort”, and the company is also said to be working on “next-gen Xbox cloud systems” to bring latency more in line with NVIDIA’s GeForce Now service.

As for games, we’ll know more about Xbox’s future slate once this year’s Xbox Games Showcase airs on Sunday, 8th June at 6pm UK time. Eurogamer will, of course, have news from that and more as the Summer Game Fest season gets underway next week.

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June 1, 2025 0 comments