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Yes, an Xbox Series X can now run Nintendo Switch software through experimental UWP emulators in Developer Mode. The results are highly game-dependent: several lighter titles reportedly hold 60 frames per second after shader compilation, while open-world Zelda games remain limited by CPU, rendering and memory constraints. This is a development project, not a finished retail replacement for a Switch.
How good is Switch emulation on Xbox Series X?
The strongest current results come from the experimental eden-xbox fork. Its maintainers report stable 60 FPS in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, Mario Strikers: Battle League and Pokémon: Let’s Go, Pikachu! on retail Xbox Series X hardware running Developer Mode. Super Mario Bros. Wonder reportedly runs at about 55–60 FPS.
That performance does not apply to every game. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is reported at roughly 20 FPS in eden-xbox, while the separate NXbox project reports about 5–10 FPS. The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom renders in eden-xbox but reaches the Xbox UWP app-memory ceiling before it becomes playable. These are maintainer measurements, not standardized independent laboratory benchmarks.
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| Game | eden-xbox | NXbox | Important qualification |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mario Kart 8 Deluxe | Stable 60 FPS in races | Not stated | eden-xbox reports no graphical errors after shaders are compiled. |
| Mario Strikers: Battle League | Stable 60 FPS in matches | Not stated | Maintainer-reported result on retail Series X hardware. |
| Pokémon: Let’s Go, Pikachu! | Stable 60 FPS | Not stated | Maintainer-reported result. |
| Super Mario Bros. Wonder | About 55–60 FPS | Not stated | Reported as stable by eden-xbox. |
| The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild | About 20 FPS | About 5–10 FPS | Rates are title- and emulator-specific; they are not directly interchangeable benchmarks. |
| The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom | Renders, then hits the 5,120 MiB app-memory wall | Not stated | The reported limit prevents a normal playable session. |
| Persona 5 Royal | Not stated | Reaches the first playable area with audio, but stutters and has serious bugs | NXbox maintainer says no game is fully playable without bugs. |
eden-xbox and NXbox are different experiments
eden-xbox
eden-xbox is a UWP rebuild of Eden with a native Direct3D 12 renderer. The project is described as work in progress and a development fork rather than a release. It has no published package for ordinary installation; users who try it must build and sign the application themselves.
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NXbox
NXbox takes a different route: it sends OpenGL 4.6 through a patched Mesa D3D12 driver. Its maintainer describes the project as experimental and says no game is 100% playable without bugs yet. Its reported Breath of the Wild result is substantially lower than eden-xbox’s, but the figures come from separate projects and should not be treated as a controlled head-to-head test.
| Comparison point | eden-xbox | NXbox |
|---|---|---|
| Graphics path | Native Direct3D 12 renderer | OpenGL 4.6 through patched Mesa D3D12 |
| Reported Breath of the Wild rate | About 20 FPS | About 5–10 FPS |
| Compatibility examples | Several games reported at 55–60 FPS; Tears of the Kingdom reaches a memory limit | Persona 5 Royal reaches an early area but has stutter and serious bugs |
| Distribution status | No published package; build and sign it yourself | Experimental project; no complete playable catalog |
| Overall maturity | Development fork | Experimental; maintainer says every game still has bugs |
Why some games reach 60 FPS while Zelda does not
Native rendering and JIT translation
Both projects use Dynarmic just-in-time translation to convert Switch ARM code for the Xbox environment. eden-xbox’s native Direct3D 12 path can reduce translation overhead for titles that fit its current compatibility profile. NXbox adds an OpenGL-to-D3D12 layer, which is a different performance trade-off.
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Shader compilation
The first launch can stutter while graphics shaders and pipelines compile. Both projects use shader or pipeline caches to reduce repeat compilation work. A stable result therefore means the reported game had finished compiling the relevant shaders; a fresh installation may feel worse during its first run.
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The fixed UWP memory budget
Xbox UWP applications have a hard memory budget. eden-xbox maintainers report a 5,120 MiB limit, and Tears of the Kingdom reaches that wall after rendering. A faster frame rate cannot solve an allocation failure caused by that ceiling; the emulator must use memory more efficiently or the title must be otherwise accommodated by future development.
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What you need to test it
This is a developer workflow, not an Xbox Store installation. The documented process requires the following:
- An Xbox Series X configured for Developer Mode.
- Access to the console’s Device Portal for transferring and managing the UWP application.
- A build of the emulator that you compile and sign when the project does not publish a package.
- Your own legally obtained Switch game dump in a supported format such as
.nsp,.nszor.xci. - Firmware files and decryption keys obtained from your own console and software.
- Sufficient storage for the application, caches and your game files.
- Enable Developer Mode on the Series X and reboot into that environment.
- Build the selected emulator project according to its current developer instructions, then sign the resulting UWP package.
- Open the Xbox Device Portal from a computer on the same network and install the package.
- Transfer only your own game files, firmware and keys; the emulator projects do not bundle them.
- Launch a title and allow shader and pipeline caches to build before judging performance.
- Record performance per game and per emulator. A frame rate from one project is not a prediction for the other.
Legal and practical limits
Emulation software and copyrighted game or system files are separate issues. The projects explicitly ship no games, firmware or decryption keys. Do not download or share copyrighted dumps, and check the law that applies where you live. A February 2026 report from Windows Central noted that legal disputes commonly focus on distributing copyrighted games or system files and on charging for emulator access.
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- Memory: 10GB GDDR6 128 bit-wide bus; Memory Bandwidth: 8GB @ 224 GB/s, 2GB @ 56 GB/s.; Internal Storage: 512GB Custom NVME SSD
- Gaming Resolution: 1440p; Performance Target: Up to 120 FPS; HDMI Features: Auto Low Latency Mode, HDMI Variable Refresh Rate, AMD FreeSync.
There are also practical risks: development builds can crash, display corruption, lose audio or fail after an update. Keep backups of your own files, expect to rebuild or resign packages as projects change, and do not assume that a game reaching its title screen is fully playable.
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Not yet. Series X is a surprisingly capable experimental host, and the reported 60-FPS results show that some Switch games can run very well once configured and cached. However, compatibility remains uneven, the most demanding open-world titles are not solved, and the setup requires Developer Mode, personal dumps and developer tooling. Treat it as an enthusiast project for selected games—not a guaranteed way to replace a Nintendo Switch.
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