So far, 2021 has been full of new information about the highly anticipated Overwatch 2. As more and more new details are provided about the upcoming sequel to Overwatch, the excitement has grown proportionally. The status of the sequel's Switch port has been something of a mystery as new footage of it has seemed to be more demanding than what Nintendo's console might be able to handle. Last month, Blizzard put those fears to rest in a Reddit AMA and revealed that the game would be coming to Switch alongside other platforms.
This came as a huge relief for those who play Overwatch exclusively on the Switch and were unsure if they would be getting the opportunity to play the sequel. Because it will have to make due on less powerful hardware, the Switch edition of Overwatch 2 might see some pretty visible changes from its PlayStation, Xbox, and PC counterparts, however. While no specifics have been revealed about what sort of downgrades the Switch version might see, but that compromises would be involved in the Switch's Overwatch 2, there are a few things that might be predictably cut to make the game run as smooth as possible.
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The Switch has already been fighting something of an uphill battle in terms of graphical fidelity when compared to the other major consoles on the market. When in handheld mode, the Switch's screen outputs at 720p and when docked can reach a maximum of 1080p meaning that it's already far behind the 4K resolutions that the newest generation of consoles boast proudly. Losing resolution, however, doesn't necessarily affect the way that the game will run, but when looking at what's possible in terms of rendering on PC, PS4, and Xbox One, it's likely that that's where Overwatch 2 will be hit the hardest.
Because Overwatch 2 will be meeting the AAA industry standards in terms of graphical fidelity on PC, PlayStation, and Xbox, the game will need some serious downgrades to run at a steady frame rate and have any sort of visual clarity. This will likely mean that many in-game textures will be less detailed on the Switch than on just about everything else resulting in an overall less good-looking game. While that might be a turn-off for some, expecting the Switch to be able to compete graphically with the newest generation of consoles doesn't seem entirely fair, as the Switch's hardware is over four years old and is more comparable to a handheld than a beefy PC rig.
Textures won't be the only things impacted by Overwatch 2's Switch port though. The original Overwatch already has a pretty simple and clear visual style which seems to be carrying over to its sequel, but certain character designs might be scaled back for the Switch edition. Character models with intricate moving pieces will likely lose some of their intricacies and physics objects in the game's environments might be removed altogether to make sure that the performance stays at a stable rate.
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In addition to losing things like resolution and intricate character design for the sake of clarity and performance, Overwatch 2's animations will likely also be scaled back and simplified. Earlier in the year, Blizzard showed off sections of Overwatch 2's PvE mode which had an impressive showing from the NPC enemies. Their reactions to being hit with different attacks were all varied and unique seemingly making the most out of the consoles' processing power. This high level of dynamic animation will almost certainly take a hit when the game comes to the Nintendo Switch.
The Switch just isn't built to be handling that many moving pieces at any given time. For proof of that, look no further than at games like Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity or Persona 5 Strikers, two games that really struggled to run with any sort of stability when large hoards of enemies were on screen. Nintendo has come up with a good solution for that problem with the cloud version of games like Control and Hitman 3 running excellently, as long as the player has a steady enough internet connection, but no details about Overwatch 2 have suggested that its Switch port will be cloud-based in nature.
To get a native version of Overwatch 2 running steadily on a Switch, it's going to need to cut some corners. Those corners will likely be in the animation department as those don't have much to do with the actual gameplay, with some exceptions. This obviously doesn't mean that characters will be T-posing most of the time, but Overwatch 2 might end up looking a lot like the original Overwatch for Switch users in terms of animations.
While it might be taking some hits in the visual and animation departments, there's no question about how Overwatch 2 will play on the Nintendo Switch. In the initial Reddit AMA, a Blizzard representative said, "we'll focus on making sure all of the gameplay-related features get in, first, and then accentuate with additional features as much as possible." Based on this quotation, it's clear that Blizzard's focus is on making sure that the important gameplay ideas are being valued over the less important features like graphical fidelity and enhanced animations.
This is a really good sign for Overwatch 2's development because it means that the Switch version will be comparable to its other console counterparts in terms of how it plays. It seems like to Blizzard, the core gameplay features are the important thing and that the rest is all extra. Switch owners shouldn't expect cross-platform games to look as good on the Switch as they do on much superior hardware, but as long as the game works well, then there's nothing really to complain about.
The core gameplay loop and competencies will be kept intact and, at the end of the day, that's all that really matters when it comes down to it for gaming. It's also nice to know that major studios aren't planning on leaving the Switch behind when it comes to developing cross-platform games like Overwatch, just that the Switch edition might be different than its counterparts.
Overwatch 2 is in development for PC, PS4, Switch, and Xbox One.