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Overwatch for Nintendo Switch: 3 reasons it would work - and 3 ways it wouldn't

Should Blizzard get to work on a port?

Overwatch for Nintendo Switch: 3 reasons it would work - and 3 ways it wouldn't
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Jeff Kaplan of uber-developer Blizzard recently named the 3DS as his "second favourite platform of all time," before proclaiming his love for the Nintendo Switch.

Kaplan was speaking in response to a question regarding the prospect of bringing Overwatch - which he directed - to Nintendo's latest console.

Overwatch, in case you've had your head buried in the sand over the past year, has been the biggest thing to happen to the online FPS for quite some time. It takes all the things you love about team-based competitive shooters, takes out a lot of the things you hate, mixes in a hefty dose of MOBA magic, and polishes it to a fine sheen.

But could this brilliant PC, PS4, and Xbox One game really make the journey to the technically restricted Nintendo Switch? Here are some reasons why we think it would work, as well as some reasons for doubt.

Why Overwatch would work on Switch

It's very accessible

Overwatch is unusually accessible for an FPS. Despite being an extremely deep game with plenty of layers and scope for developing your skills, getting started isn't a particularly daunting experience.

A relative beginner could jump into a game of Overwatch and have an absolute blast. Its focus on teamplay and strategy over twitch skills, and its diverse range of characters and roles, means that you can be immediately useful and productive even if you're not an FPS ninja. It's almost Nintendo-esque in its inclusiveness.

Visual style feels very Nintendo

Any screenshot or video snippet of Overwatch in action is an explosion of colour and light. It's a hugely pretty game with appealingly cartoony characters, and it's as lacking in blood and guts as its is in shades of grey and brown.

Okay, so it's not quite Splatoon, but Overwatch's friendly aesthetic feels like a natural fit for a new Nintendo platform.

Switch needs an FPS

I've just referenced Splatoon, and Splatoon 2 is set to land on the Switch pretty soon. But Nintendo's brilliant team-based splatter-'em-up isn't strictly speaking an FPS.

Indeed, the Switch doesn't at present have an FPS available for it. That's one of the most popular game genres unaccounted for on a major new console. I can't think of any modern FPS that would be a better pick to fill that role.

Why Overwatch wouldn't work on Switch

Framerate is key

Anyone who's played The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild will know that the Switch can handle big, beautiful games. But given that Overwatch was designed for significantly more powerful hardware, could the Switch handle even a downgraded version of its engine and still maintain a constant 60fps?

Frame rate is king in any online FPS, and Overwatch is no different. There would need to be considerable compromises in visual fidelity with any Switch version of the game, but the biggest concern would be that it simply wouldn't move smoothly enough when things get frenetic.

Nintendo's patchy online history

Nintendo isn't very good at online services. It took an encouraging step forward with the Wii U and Splatoon, though the niggling drop-out and glitching issues never completely went away for many players (including me).

The Switch isn't instilling me with much confidence either, with a bare bones (at best) online offering at launch and the lack of an ethernet port on the console itself (you need an adaptor to form a more reliable and speedy physical connection). Overwatch needs a stable online environment to operate, and I doubt Nintendo will be able to provide it.

Core audience already established elsewhere

I played all of my Overwatch on PS4 shortly after launch, and had a great time doing so with well-populated servers. But even then I was aware that the true core audience for the game was on PC.

How much more diluted would the Overwatch player base be on a significantly less capable Nintendo handheld, launching more than a year late? Very, I suspect - and this is a game that really relies on a strong community to put in the hours.


What do you think? Would you like to see Blizzard porting Overwatch onto the Nintendo Switch? Are there any significant reasons why it should or shouldn't happen? Let us know in the comments below.
Jon Mundy
Jon Mundy
Jon is a consummate expert in adventure, action, and sports games. Which is just as well, as in real life he's timid, lazy, and unfit. It's amazing how these things even themselves out.