UK games studios still favor PC and console, easing Nintendo partnerships

UK studios are still building around PC and console, not drifting wholesale into mobile, and that is good news for Nintendo’s partner pipeline. TIGA’s latest platform data showed 46% of UK studios naming PC as their main platform, while the share focused on mobile fell 4.2%. For Nintendo, that matters because it points to a development base that still understands premium production, longer schedules, and the performance discipline needed for console releases.

The deeper signal is in TIGA’s earlier platform breakdown. In 2020, 46% of UK games development staff worked exclusively or primarily on console games, even though only 13% of studios had console as their primary focus. PC was the primary focus for 36% of studios, while mobile led at 39%. Richard Wilson, TIGA’s chief executive, said then that console’s strength reflected the UK’s long history in console development, the larger teams and resources those projects demand, and the size of the global console market. He also pointed to PC’s lower distribution costs and its premium-friendly audience as reasons indies kept gravitating there. That mix still describes the UK market today: a studio base that is broad, but not flattened into mobile-first work.

That is where Nintendo fits. The Nintendo Developer Portal now supports development for Nintendo Switch 2 and allows both individuals and corporations to register, with self-publishing on Nintendo eShop available once a game is complete. That lowers the barrier for smaller teams while still giving larger studios a route into Nintendo’s ecosystem. Nintendo’s April 2, 2025 Switch 2 presentation also showed how aggressively it is courting outside content, with first-party projects like Mario Kart World, Donkey Kong Bananza and The Duskbloods alongside third-party names including Elden Ring, Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade, Cyberpunk 2077: Ultimate Edition, Street Fighter 6, Hades II, Borderlands 4, Hogwarts Legacy and Civilization VII.

The commercial backdrop in the UK makes that courting more relevant. TIGA’s Making Games in the UK 2024 report said the sector grew 4.8% in the 12 months to May 2024, reaching 28,516 total roles, including 24,891 full-time development jobs and 3,625 freelancers. But the same report also counted 248 companies closing or exiting the industry, the highest number it had recorded at that point, while 166 new studios were founded between April 2023 and May 2024. In a market that is growing but still fragile, studios need platforms that reward technical ambition and reliable sales. PC and console still provide that base, and for Nintendo that leaves Switch and Switch 2 looking less like niche add-ons and more like practical targets for UK teams already built to ship on traditional hardware.