With the first-ever Nintendo Switch 2 jailbreak surfacing online last week, it was only a matter of time until developers would put it to good use and do things not normally possible on the system, such as having a fully functional YouTube app or dumping game and beta client files to learn more about upcoming games like FromSoftware’sThe Duskbloods. With game dumping being a thing, it’s not surprising to see that Nintendo Switch 2 emulation is also taking its first steps, as Mario Kart World has become the first emulated current-generation Nintendo game.
Known emulator developer Will Faust shared some footage of Mario Kart World running on macOS via an nxnative fork with additional work. As the footage shown on X reveals, emulation isn’t perfect as the game has visual glitches and missing geometry, among other things, but still, performance seems to be stable enough to complete a race without too many troubles. The developer also didn’t stop here, and showed the game running on an iPhone 18 Pro, limiting physical memory usage by implementing userspace file-backed memory.
As Will Faust confirmed they are not releasing the code for this project anywhere, there’s no way to test Nintendo Switch 2 games on macOS, nor for others to port the project to Windows, but now that the door has been opened, it won’t take long to see another project surface online. According to Centro Leaks, Splatoon Raiders and Donkey Kong Bananza are already booting on PC, so more developments on the matter are just around the corner.
No matter how willing developers are to release their Nintendo Switch 2 emulators online, it will likely be extremely difficult to find these emulators. Considering how Nintendo cracked down on the original Switch emulation during the system’s later years, one can only imagine how much harder the Japanese company’s stance will be with emulation of a current-generation system that has been on the market for a little over a year.
About the author: Francesco De Meo has been covering video games and technology since 2012, starting his career at small outlets like Gamersyndrome and GeekSnack.
After joining Wccftech gaming section in 2015, he quickly expanded his video gaming coverage with in-depth reporting, interviews with iconic industry figures such as Grasshopper Manufacture founder and No More Heroes creator Goichi “Suda51” Suda, Resident Evil series creator Shinji Mikami, Team NINJA’s president and Nioh series director Fumihiko Yasuda, and Silent Hill creator Keiichiro Toyama, reviews and on-the-ground coverage of major industry events such as Gamescom and E3.
When he’s not reporting or reviewing, Francesco can be found playing the genres he loves most, spending time with his six cats, reading, writing music, playing guitar and drumming for his progressive rock band.
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