Civilization 7 Switch 2 exploit: does it give full file access?

Nintendo patched the Switch 2 jailbreak, and Kotaku wrote that hackers were back to square one. Within a day, Civilization 7 got full file access on the Switch 2, the same level the original jailbreak had. So much for square one. The game is Sid Meier's Civilization VII (2025) from Firaxis.

A dispute also broke out over who made the new exploit. Atmosphère already supports the latest Switch 1 firmware, and Nintendo has shared how many copies the new Ocarina of Time sold. There's a lot to get through.

Civilization 7 now matches SmileBASIC's file access on firmware 23.0.1

On firmware 23.0.1, Civilization 7 now gets you the same file access that SmileBASIC had. An anonymous developer posted it overnight. People in the scene confirmed it works, and the developer says it was made with help from AI.

Think of the console as a tower. The earlier Civilization 7 exploit only got you onto the bottom floor: apps and games. This one reaches system services, the part of the console that can read and write nearly everything. Without file access, homebrew only runs inside the game, and it's gone the moment you close Civilization 7. File access is what things like Mario Kart World mods and backups of your own saves need. Later, it's what a real homebrew menu needs, like the one a developer has already shown.

There are important limits. So far, it only works on 23.0.1. People on older firmware tried it and it failed. On the question of new games needing new firmware, no Switch 2 cartridge with firmware 23 is known yet. The newest ones, like Ocarina of Time, carry 22.5.0. That will change at some point, but not yet. One developer was clear that users shouldn't try to use these yet because they're unstable and not tested enough.

Why a Civilization 7 cartridge matters more than SmileBASIC

Someone in the community explained why people care this much. If you ever reset your Switch 2, SmileBASIC is gone, and you can't download it again on the old firmware. A cartridge doesn't disappear like that.

The prices are all over the place. One person found Civilization 7 for $12 at Walmart. A reseller is asking $140.

The credit dispute over who cracked Switch 2 file access

A few hours after the exploit went public, another developer posted that he had finally cracked file access on Switch 2 through Civilization 7. The post drew 20,000 views, and the scene did not like it. One member answered him directly: "You didn't crack anything man. Let's be honest and give credit where it's due."

An hour later, he posted it again, this time thanking the people involved, including the anonymous developer behind the original. He also updated the credits on his GitHub. So the original developer made it, and now the credits say that too.

His own version is up on GitHub as well. It got a lot of backlash because he wasn't the first, and some people say it's the same thing wrapped differently. I still think it's cool to have it. One more option is never a bad thing, and he credited everyone who should get credit.

Atmosphère 1.12.2 adds support for Switch 1 firmware 23.5.0

On the original Switch, less than 24 hours after the update, Atmosphère 1.12.2 was released. The notes describe the usual version bump for the new firmware, plus a reminder to update the payload. One related page still lists 23.0.1 as the newest supported version.

Many update guides already out there are meant for 23.0.1, which misleads the many people who want 23.5.0. They're telling people to update everything themselves once it's all updated. I'm doing a separate guide on that whole update once everything is updated, so you'll see everything at once.

Moonlight turns the Switch 2 into a PC game client

This part blew up. A developer had Moonlight running inside Civilization 7, so your PC sends games over the network to your Switch 2. That version runs at 1080p and 60 frames per second. Another developer showed his own version at 1080p and 120 frames per second, and up to 4K at 60 docked. It's not public yet.

One tester measured about 90 milliseconds from the PC to the console and back. That's good for a game exploit. People are already playing World of Warcraft and Horizon Zero Dawn on a Switch 2 with it. One person said: "So technically, the Switch 2 can now play anything if your PC is good enough."

That's kind of true, but so nobody gets fooled: with Moonlight, your PC does all the work and the console only shows the picture. Someone on Reddit posted Ocarina of Time running on a Switch 1 and people got excited. It was Moonlight. Nice try, though. I respect it. A developer also released a Jellyfin app for it, which lets you use your own media server for your own movies and shows. It's unofficial and still missing some features, but it's out.

Emulators, launchers and the homebrew enabler inside Civilization 7

Emulators are running inside Civilization 7 too. One developer has a Game Boy Advance emulator running mGBA. Another ported an NES emulator that he says hits 60 fps in Zelda, and he's asking whether people even want it released. My answer is yes.

The launcher now runs on its own after the first start, so no PC is needed anymore. Another developer made a Switch 1 app that starts the Civilization 7 exploit on your Switch 2 from the Switch 1, also with no PC. He's looking for testers.

The homebrew enabler that has been shown off is still with testers. One of them said it's extremely incomplete and works about one in five times right now. Once this homebrew enabler works on the Switch 2, in my opinion it will change everything, because it's such a big deal.

Ocarina of Time sells 5.2 million copies as PC ports keep moving

Nintendo announced that the new Ocarina of Time sold over 5.2 million copies in its first 4 days worldwide. So even with PC ports everywhere, it's one of the biggest launches they've had.

The ports keep moving. One Switch 2 emulator reached build 150, and its developers call it the best performance so far. Ocarina's lighting is fixed, the dark karts in Mario Kart World are fixed, and it now has Nvidia's newest upscaling. One developer in this space went from about 1,800 followers to 10,000 in one week, and I talked to him. Mario Tennis Fever also got its own recompilation, which puts another Switch 2 game natively on PC. It's experimental, but it's there.

On PlayStation, an Ocarina port on a PS5 Pro now reaches Hyrule Castle, though it's still not fully playable. The Switch 2 emulator booted Ocarina on a PlayStation 5 running Linux, at least to the title screen. A Switch 2 emulator for jailbroken PS5s is now public as a pre alpha: games boot, but expect crashes. Someone in the community is also making a Sonic on foot mode for Mario Kart World, with Sonic running around the tracks without a kart.

Switch 2 hardware hacks and the microSD Express FAT32 question

A developer in Japan got the Switch 2 to pass its microSD Express check with a tiny microcontroller, with no Express card needed. Another developer had an M.2 SSD connected to the Switch 2 earlier this year, and that post has over 2 million views. It has also been pointed out that an open adapter for exactly this is already on GitHub.

This question comes up every day, so here's the answer on SD cards. According to people in the scene, a microSD Express card formatted as FAT32 doesn't need the online SD update. Only exFAT triggers it. One of them said exFAT is a license, not a driver, so the console has to download it first, which is kind of weird.

Was the Switch 2 exploit burned too early?

The scene argued over whether the exploit was burned too early. Some people wanted to wait for more games. Others said to use it while you can. One developer said it was exactly the kind of bug that AI models would find, so it would have been burned eventually. That's a fair point. It's been one day since the patch.

PlayStation research and the PS3 at 20

Someone got the real PS5 kernel booting inside an emulator on a PC. That's research, not a PS5 emulator for games, but it's a big step. There's a rumor about a PlayStation 4 jailbreak for firmware 14.02, with nothing confirmed yet. And an older exploit from 2024 going viral again is not new.

The PS3 has turned 20. It released November 11, 2006 in Japan. Twenty years later, it's fully hacked: custom firmware on the older models, PS3HEN on the newest firmware, and RPCS3 runs its games on PC. Happy birthday, PS3.