New Nintendo Studio Is Responsible for a Surprising Switch 2 Game

In 2024, Nintendo surprised a lot of people when it announced the acquisition of a new studio. Nintendo is no stranger to acquisitions; the company has strategically looked for studios that help fill specific needs in its software lineup. However, most of those development teams were acquired for the purpose of creating exclusive games. By contrast, Nintendo purchased developer Shiver Entertainment specifically to “port and develop software for multiple platforms, including Nintendo Switch.” Shiver had previously ported games like Hogwarts Legacy and Mortal Kombat 1 to Switch, and it seems Nintendo was impressed with the team’s work.

It seems Shiver has jumped right back into this familiar role in the Switch 2 era. According to a posting on LinkedIn (spotted by Nintendo Everything), the studio handled development on the Nintendo Switch 2 version of WWE 2K25. As we reported last month following the game’s release, the game’s performance has gotten a lot of praise from players. While there’s been some unhappiness with the removal of the Community Creations feature, the port seems to run pretty well. That’s a good sign of things to come for future Switch 2 ports.

Nintendo’s acquisition of a studio solely dedicated to working with third-party publishers on ports is a sign of just how much things have changed for the company. There was a point where Nintendo seemed to put a lot less focus on the importance of third-party games on its platforms. That negligence really hurt a lot of past Nintendo systems, to the benefit of companies like PlayStation and Xbox. Switch saw a big shift, and the system received the best third-party support a Nintendo platform has had since the days of the Super Nintendo. The system got an absolute plethora of games from major studios, as well as indie teams.

Unfortunately, there’s no way of knowing what Shiver will work on next. There’s no shortage of third-party games that went unreleased on Switch that can (and should) be released on Switch 2. If Nintendo can speed up the process by having Shiver work on high priority ports, it could really benefit Switch 2. The system has been selling very well for Nintendo since launch, but its long-term success will largely depend on a steady stream of games. Not just exclusives, but big third-party games that are available elsewhere.

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Hopefully we’ll learn more about Nintendo’s future plans soon, as there have been rumors about a Nintendo Direct presentation in the month of September. Nintendo closed out July with a Partner Showcase focused entirely on third-party games. The company followed that in August with an Indie World showcase, but there has been no sign of a “general” Nintendo Direct. The company has typically held Nintendo Direct presentations in the month of September, which gives some credibility to those rumors. However, we’ll have to wait patiently to see what gets announced.

Do you think the acquisition of Shiver was a smart move for Nintendo? What ports should the team be assigned to next? Share your thoughts with me directly on Bluesky at @Marcdachamp, or on Instagram at @Dachampgaming!