Developers Are Happy About the Switch 2’s Extra Power and Ease of Development
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Although it may not look like it, the Nintendo Switch 2 has quite a bit of power under its hood. In fact, several developers who are planning to release games on the platform at its launch have already expressed a great deal of excitement, not only about what it has to offer in terms of graphical and performance but also about its unique hardware features and how Nintendo has made it easy to develop and port games to it.
Nintendo is also actively working with developers to create Switch 2 games.
Switch 2 Hardware Doesn’t Seem All Too Complicated on the Development Front
Speaking to Gamefile (locked behind a paywall) during a hands-on with the Switch 2, Dennis Shirk, executive producer for the Civilization franchise, briefly discussed their work on the Switch 2 version of Civilization VII. He expressed that they were “extremely happy” with the horsepower of the Switch 2, which enabled them to port over a “mid-tier” PC level of quality version of the game to the platform. Although the platform is new, Shirk explained that Nintendo made it pretty easy to port over, offering direct support to the studio, which included what he called a “great” SDK (software development kit).
Elsewhere, Rob Nelson, head of technology at Avalanche Software, the studio behind Hogwarts Legacy, also had some thoughts about the Switch 2. He notes some of the limitations they had with the original Switch version and how compromises had to be made to get it to work. Graphically, the original Switch version is nowhere near the level of that of the PS5, Xbox Series, and PC versions. With the Switch 2, they rebuilt the entire portable experience since the console allowed quality closer to those other platforms. This also included the removal of hard loads, with players now able to seamlessly walk through specific locations that had them without seeing a loading of sorts.
Nintendo also worked with Avalanche on the development of the port, which the studio said wasn’t much of a challenge anyway.
All in all, things appear to be going smoothly when developing for the Switch 2, though we can’t say we’re surprised considering the console likely builds off of the original Switch’s development tools, which many studios already found pretty easy to work with.
Both Civilization VII and Hogwarts Legacy will be available on the Nintendo Switch 2 when it launches this June. Preorders are now available, except for those living in Canada and the United States, as they’ve been delayed due to ongoing tariffs.
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