Indie Developer Confirms: “We Ported to Switch 2 Because It Supports Mouse Controls”

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The story

The mouse control feature built into the Joy-Con 2 for the Nintendo Switch 2 became a hot topic on 5ch’s hardware/industry (“Gehā”) board after an indie game developer released a Switch 2 port of their game just about three months after its Steam debut — and stated flatly that the reason was “it’s the only console that supports mouse controls.” Development on the port reportedly began just two weeks after the Steam release. Thread commenters debated the fact that the mouse feature — which some had dismissed as “barely useful” since launch — directly drove a real porting decision, as well as the point that while PS5 and Xbox can technically connect a mouse, it isn’t standard equipment on those consoles.

— Could you tell us why this ended up releasing exclusively on the Nintendo Switch 2? Was compatibility with the Joy-Con 2’s mouse controls the main factor, or were there other reasons too, like performance or online features? Do you have any plans to expand to other platforms in the future?

Remorion: We went with the Switch 2 because it’s the only console that supports mouse controls. Expansion to other platforms is undecided for now.

Source: gamespark.jp / Original article here

What people said

3AnonymousSep 10, 2026 20:25
Xbox and PS work fine too, just plug in a USB mouse
12AnonymousSep 10, 2026 20:28
Re: #3
The point is it comes standard. You could add a mouse to the Super Famicom too, you know.
104AnonymousSep 10, 2026 21:07
Re: #3
People have been saying "it matters that it's standard equipment" ever since April 2, 2025 — how do you still not get it?
4AnonymousSep 10, 2026 20:25
Sounds like a shot in the arm after their concurrent player count cratered
14AnonymousSep 10, 2026 20:28
Re: #4
Huh?

— The Nintendo Switch 2 version arrived about three months after the Steam release. That's a pretty fast turnaround — when did development start? And were there any particular struggles porting it in such a short time?

Remorion: We started the port work about two weeks after the Steam launch. Configuring the UI and lightening the load were the hard parts.
23AnonymousSep 10, 2026 20:32
Pretty sure the PS5 supports mice too though
31AnonymousSep 10, 2026 20:33
Re: #23
Does the PS5 come with a mouse standard?
33AnonymousSep 10, 2026 20:34
It's #4 on the eShop ranking right now — since that's revenue-based, it's actually doing pretty well I guess?
37AnonymousSep 10, 2026 20:36
Re: #33
That ranking's by revenue, so in terms of units sold it's a tougher sell — it'd need to outsell Touhou 3-to-1 to match. Still, since it's out now, guess I'll buy it on this platform too.
34AnonymousSep 10, 2026 20:35
Honestly, Nintendo themselves should've been the ones to put out a game that actually used the mouse. I figured they added it because they had some Wii Sports-level idea in mind.
74AnonymousSep 10, 2026 20:47
Re: #34
And all they could come up with was wheelchair basketball.
79AnonymousSep 10, 2026 20:49
Re: #34
That's exactly why I keep saying: hurry up and put out a new Palutena (Kid Icarus: Uprising) game already.
36AnonymousSep 10, 2026 20:35
The Switch 2 Pro Controller doesn't come standard, so I wonder if there'll end up being games that just don't release because of that lol
45AnonymousSep 10, 2026 20:38
Re: #36
Functionally it's the same except for the back buttons — if anything the Joy-Con has even more features. So it's not really an issue. Though I assume that was a joke.
39AnonymousSep 10, 2026 20:36
Re: #31
That huge Select button turned into a touchpad, huh~
47AnonymousSep 10, 2026 20:39
Re: #39
I've only ever used a DS4, but there's no way you could do detailed coloring with that thing…
40AnonymousSep 10, 2026 20:36
A lot of people on the hardware board were mocking the mouse feature, but some also said it'd be great for indie ports. Guess it's already paying off.
55AnonymousSep 10, 2026 20:42
Re: #40
I wasn't mocking it, but I was disappointed the first Nintendo game to use the mouse was about wheelchairs.
48AnonymousSep 10, 2026 20:39
Re: #14
Some game company president was apparently freaked out, saying it's unbelievable how nimble this team is.
70AnonymousSep 10, 2026 20:45
Re: #48
It's a 2-person dev team, so of course it's fast. They decide something and then do the work themselves — the more people you add, the slower it gets.
50AnonymousSep 10, 2026 20:40
Re: #45
The fact that Joy-Cons don't cut it for playing Smash already shows they're not suited to some games.
53AnonymousSep 10, 2026 20:41
Re: #50
Wait, was Smash ever actually unplayable with Joy-Cons? If it's just "hard to play," that's not really the same as "can't play."
59AnonymousSep 10, 2026 20:43
The moment online play requires a paid subscription, there's no point releasing it on consoles
80AnonymousSep 10, 2026 20:49
Re: #59
But they did release it, so there must be a point. Sure, you can play it on PC, but if you want to sell in Japan, consoles are still the way to go. And the only real console market in Japan is basically Switch anyway — it's also the only one with mouse controls standard. By the way, I actually expected a smartphone version to come first, but that never happened.
69AnonymousSep 10, 2026 20:45
Sony's probably gonna rip this off at lightning speed. Wouldn't be surprised if they suddenly drop an official external mouse.
73AnonymousSep 10, 2026 20:46
Re: #69
This kind of thing is meaningless unless it's standard equipment, so the PS6 will ship with 4 mice.
72AnonymousSep 10, 2026 20:46
Nintendo jumps on massively popular indie games instantly, so bring us Pogostuck too.
76AnonymousSep 10, 2026 20:47
Re: #72
A lot of games never make it to Switch, so it's nice to have it on PC as well.
87AnonymousSep 10, 2026 20:51
All those people desperately trolling with "the mouse is pointless!" — guess it was a bad omen for them lol
109AnonymousSep 10, 2026 21:11
Re: #87
Well, the developer literally said "we decided to port it because of the mouse!" lol
101AnonymousSep 10, 2026 21:05
Why do outlets like this always ask "why isn't it coming to other platforms?" whenever a game happens to be Nintendo-exclusive?
113AnonymousSep 10, 2026 21:14
Re: #101
Because they're bitter it's not coming to PS5.

Background and Key Points of This Discussion

The Joy-Con 2’s mouse feature has been part of the Switch 2 since its April 2025 launch — you slide the controller sideways on a flat surface and use it like a PC mouse. Some voices doubted its usefulness from the start, and even among Nintendo’s own first-party titles, the only notable use case was a wheelchair basketball game. What sparked this discussion is that the Switch 2 version arrived only about three months after the Steam release — with development starting a mere two weeks after that Steam launch — and that the developer explicitly cited “the only console with mouse controls” as the reason for the port. It’s worth noting that eShop rankings are based on revenue rather than units sold, so placing 4th doesn’t necessarily reflect a high number of copies sold — an easy point to misread. PS5 and Xbox have long supported connecting a USB mouse, but whether it comes standard was the real point of contention in the thread.

*This article is compiled and summarized from the 5ch (Hardware/Industry, “Gehā”) thread “Meccha Chameleon Dev: “We Ported to Switch 2 Because It Supports Mouse Controls”.”

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