Nintendo Switch games running natively on Apple TV using Claude Code port

On 5 November 2026 at 5:07 am PT, Ben Lovejoy wrote in 9to5Mac's report that Redditor FloatingFalafel released TVport on GitHub. The open-source fork of nxnative recompiles original Nintendo Switch and Switch 2 dumps so the games run natively on Apple TV. Super Mario Odyssey and Animal Crossing: New Horizons are running. The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is still in progress. The item reached 9to5Mac via Engadget.

This piece is for Apple TV owners following native Switch recompilation. It covers the three games FloatingFalafel tested, the frame rate and faults on each, and the split between the 3rd-gen Apple TV and the 4th-gen model with 8GB of RAM. It also names Nativecade, another Redditor's app for Nintendo 64 games on Apple TV.

What shipped in Nintendo Switch games running natively

FloatingFalafel's note, quoted by Lovejoy, says "I have been working on a fork of nxnative that recompiles your OG Switch and Switch 2 dumps for AppleTV." The fork "only works on a game-by-game basis." TVport is open source and was shared on GitHub. Lovejoy counts three games ported to Apple TV, with one still a work in progress. The headline calls the release a Claude Code port, beside earlier Claude Code work that reverse engineered Adobe's pro apps into open-source versions.

Super Mario Odyssey and Animal Crossing: New Horizons are the games the lede says are running. The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is the one still underway. The test list shortens the last two to "Animal Crossing: Horizon" and "Zelda: TOTK". Most games "run essentially the same on the switch," but some "load textures into memory differently and need to be diagnosed and fixed before the game will run properly." The beta is there to find outliers and add those fixes.

What improved in Nintendo Switch games running natively

Super Mario Odyssey runs at 60FPS, with very slight stutters on occasion and some audio issues around waterfalls specifically. Animal Crossing: Horizon, the list name for Animal Crossing: New Horizons, runs at 30FPS with zero issues so far on FloatingFalafel's plays. Zelda: TOTK is still being worked on, runs at 30FPS, and gets thermal throttled. The developer has a work around for the throttle, a render scale selection set at 75%, and MetalFX upscaling still being added in this beta.

Some games need the 4th-gen Apple TV with its 8GB of RAM. Odyssey, Animal Crossing, and Zelda: TOTK run on the 3rd-gen box, which is where the 60FPS result and both 30FPS results were described. Mario's 60FPS note still includes occasional stutters and waterfall audio. The Animal Crossing 30FPS note is the line with zero issues. Zelda's 30FPS note carries the thermal throttling, the 75% render scale, and unfinished MetalFX upscaling. Most games on Switch are described as essentially the same.

What you gain from Nintendo Switch games running natively

A 3rd-gen Apple TV plays the dumps already marked as running. Super Mario Odyssey reaches 60FPS, with very slight stutters on occasion and audio issues around waterfalls. Animal Crossing: New Horizons, logged as Animal Crossing: Horizon, holds 30FPS with zero issues so far. Both come through the nxnative fork, one game at a time. A dump that loads textures into memory differently still has to be diagnosed and fixed before that game will run properly. The limit is per game.

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is the partial gain. Zelda: TOTK runs at 30FPS while it is still being worked on, and it gets thermal throttled. The work around already in the note is a render scale selection set at 75%. MetalFX upscaling is still being added. Games past this trio are the ones Lovejoy ties to the 4th-gen Apple TV with 8GB of RAM. FloatingFalafel's hope is that beta outliers become fixes and a seamless experience.

How to get Nintendo Switch games running natively

TVport, still in beta, is the GitHub project FloatingFalafel shared, a fork of nxnative aimed at Apple TV. The fork "recompiles your OG Switch and Switch 2 dumps for AppleTV," and "this only works on a game-by-game basis." A game that loads textures into memory differently has to be diagnosed and fixed before it will run properly. Some games need the 4th-gen Apple TV with 8GB of RAM. Super Mario Odyssey, Animal Crossing, and Zelda: TOTK run on the 3rd-gen box.

On Tears of the Kingdom, FloatingFalafel writes: "I have a work around for the thermal throttle. I have a render scale selection set at 75% and I am working on adding MetalFX upscaling." The game runs at 30FPS and still gets thermal throttled while that upscaler is being added. The scale named as set is 75%. Mario remains at 60FPS with slight stutters and waterfall audio. Animal Crossing: Horizon remains at 30FPS with zero issues so far on his plays.

What to watch after Nintendo Switch games running natively

Zelda: TOTK is still being worked on. It runs at 30FPS, it gets thermal throttled, the work around is the render scale at 75%, and MetalFX upscaling is what FloatingFalafel is adding. Super Mario Odyssey is at 60FPS, with very slight stutters on occasion and audio issues around waterfalls still listed. Animal Crossing: Horizon is at 30FPS with zero issues so far. Outliers, especially games that load textures into memory differently, are what the beta is meant to catch so fixes can be added.

Another Redditor is porting Nintendo 64 games to Apple TV in an app called Nativecade. The report gives no frame rate, RAM figure, or title list for it. Lovejoy writes that how long any of these types of projects will survive is anyone's guess. Some games need the 4th-gen Apple TV with 8GB of RAM. Odyssey, Animal Crossing: New Horizons, and Tears of the Kingdom are the three that run on the 3rd-gen box. The photo is by Angga on Unsplash.