As we're sure many of you have thought in the time since Nintendo Switch launched, multiplayer hero shooter Overwatch feels like a great fit for the system. While we knew translating the team-based FPS to Switch's mobile chipset wouldn't be a piece of cake, a steady stream of 'miracle' ports made it more and more obvious that Blizzard was looking at an open goal if they could pull it off. It wasn't until August that a leak suggested the port was finally happening, and this was later confirmed in the September Nintendo Direct broadcast. The game finally launches on 15th October, but what took Blizzard so long?
Speaking with The Verge, game director Jeff Kaplan has said it really came down to working out how to bring the shooter over without sacrifices. In fact, he and team had wanted the game on Nintendo's console since the first moment they laid eyes on Switch:
Literally the day the Switch came out, we were thinking about it. I remember immediately talking to people around the office saying, ‘What would it take for us to be here?'
According to The Verge, work started on Overwatch for Switch just over a year ago. In the interim, Diablo III made its way Switch-ward:
It was much easier to get Diablo on the device than it was to get Overwatch. And, like everything we do here, we wanted to make sure to do it right. It was just a long process of figuring out how to handle the development in a way that we felt like we would be very proud of the end product.
The Verge also talked to Iron Galaxy, the studio who worked with Blizzard on the port (also responsible for Diablo and Bethesda's Skyrim on Nintendo's console). According to producer Wes Yanagi, Iron Galaxy spent most of the game's development time on optimisation to hit a solid 30fps and make sure Switch owners didn't get a lesser experience:
Our goal is to keep all platforms in parity. So as far as we can, we’re going to have all the same feature sets. Any kind of new heroes or events or anything like that should be out at the same time.
Despite benefiting from gyro controls and touchscreen menu navigation, cross-saves and cross-platform progression unfortunately won't feature in Overwatch on Switch, at least not at launch. Yanagi is well aware of the desire amongst players for those features:
I think it’s going to be super exciting to have that. A lot of people are asking for it, and it’s something that, as a player, I totally want to be able to do that. It’s something that we’re currently investigating, but we don’t have any solid info right now.
Kaplan goes on to comment on Nintendo's games and vocalises a lot of the thoughts players have had regarding how Overwatch would just be a great fit for Switch:
Nintendo games are typically very bright, very saturated, very hopeful; less realistic, more character-based. When you think of the Nintendo ecosystem and the types of games that are really popular, we felt like there’d be a one-to-one match with Nintendo players being attracted to Overwatch because of the aesthetic and the feel and the spirit of the game. It all felt like a great match to us.
Elsewhere Kaplan comments on how Fortnite's appearance on Switch was a good omen for the team and how he thinks the Switch version will appeal to Overwatch veterans as well as new players. We reckon it'll be tough to tempt longtime fans without cross-saves, but with all the major platform holders now seemingly on board with that sort of thing, perhaps it's only a matter of time before it arrives.
Be sure to check out the full article over at The Verge. Are you looking forward to Overwatch on Switch? How do you suppose it'll hold up against the other versions? Let us know your thoughts below.
[source theverge.com]
Comments 38
It's High Noon
That doesn't shock me. The Switch is a great platform for it.
No they wanted to make sure the Switch was going to be a success first lol.
I can't wait for the 15th, but I really want them to bring over Heroes of the Storm, the Switch needs a MOBA since AoV bailed on us.
I don't care about the game personally (love the character designs, hate FPS gameplay), but I know a lot of people like it and I think it'll find renewed life on Switch.
First they wanted one to be in smash now this wow so pushy..
Why is Overwatch so hated now? Whenever I bring it up everyone moans and says its "cringe lgbt trash". I say Overwatch is still good, and has always been good
I preordered it already and can’t wait! Never played overwatch before so it’s all new to me 🙂
@PBandSmelly - Because people hate popular games. Right now, cause Pewdiepie played Goose Game, people hate Goose Game. Shocker, I know.
Outside that, those who loved it and now hate it is likely cause of changes that altered several bits of their own experience.
For me, I like Paladins a bit more cause every new character felt like crap and I was stuck with Junkrat and Zenny. My choices were limited and the community there likes to dictate your roles.
"Nintendo games are typically very bright, very saturated, very hopeful..."
I know the guy said, "typically," but he hasn't obviously played Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem or Bayonetta. lol
@Paraka I don't love or hate Overwatch because I never played it (and I don't really care about it). What I can tell people is that I don't like Blizzard itself anymore, especially after the World of Warcraft debacles like when they first announced there would be no more flying in their WoW expansions going forward from Warlords of Draenor. That earned them a lot of animosity and lost subscriptions, even after backtracking---sort of, since they only allowed players to fly after doing a ridiculous achievement that would only unlock towards the end of that expansion and called it a "compromise."
This would probably be where a lot of the hate comes from. There's also the early days of Diablo III (the Real Money Auction House) and Jay Wilson's "eff that loser" comment about Dave Brevik (co-founder of Blizzard and the Diablo series).
@Ragdoll72 Did AoV shut down on Switch? I was thinking of playing it again here soon.
Now can we get WoW Classic for the Switch, Blizzard
Overwatch is really, really good. Played a ton of it a few years back on pc. If the port is good I will recommend it to everyone!
But you didn't port it right...
It doesn't even run at 60fps cause you prioritized resolution over performance.
@PBandSmelly It guts me when people start saying stuff like that in the hobby I enjoy, but that’s life I suppose.
Funny, I seem to remember Blizzard claiming that the Switch wasn’t powerful enough, and that to create and manage a Switch Overwatch would be far too much work for them as a company.
What a load of crap.
@iLikeUrAttitude I am going to foreword my comment by saying I would have preferred a 60 fps version as well.
Now that being said, some pro Overwatch player yesterday posted a video of himself playing the Switch version and he was IN LOVE with it. So I'm willing to give it a shot based on that. If it's good enough for the pros to enjoy then it should be enough for us plebs.
@DTfeartheBEARD
Facts. Anything else being puked out is bs
So it pretty much went like this:
Switch: exists
Blizzard: "I've got you in my sights."
Kinda dont believe them. If they were interested day one then we would have gotten it earlier like other games
@Indielink I don't see the point in trying Overwatch now to be honest.
The game is finally being released after all this time when Paladins was already a thing.
Paladins
-runs at 60fps
-free to play
-gyro support
-Crossplay
I'm not going to spend $60 on a game already similar to Paladins when there so many other games out there.
I got my fill on PC for this already, i'm good. However i'm glad those that want to play it will get the chance.
@iLikeUrAttitude
-Yes, Overwatch is only 30fps, but Paladins suffers from resolution problems and is very blurry on handheld. Plus it crashes fairly often for me. Overwatch is looking super sharp.
-Yes, Paladins is free to play but you have to grind forever to get the characters you want. If you want all the characters you have to spend 30 dollars and that's all you get. Overwatch on Switch isn't $60, it's 40 dollars, includes loads of cosmetics and Switch Online included.
-Overwatch has gyro
-You got me on crossplay. OW won't have it yet.
You're free to spend money on what you want, but you're massively underselling OW. Give it a try sometime and you may like it. It's your choice.
Wish it had cross save. If it did, would be a no brainier.
I can play on the GO but keep playing on my PC when I am home and keep my stuff. Why I never did WarFrame on Switch either.
@JR150
-I'll take performance over resolution any day. The resolution isn't that big of a deal in my experience. As for crashes it hasn't happened much but it is annoying I'll give you that.
-I'll admit the game is grindy but you can still get the characters you want just by playing the game. The character pass is recommended but not necessary
-Fair enough
We'll see. If one of my friends gets the game I'll see what he has to say.
I’m calling BS. They didn’t consider Overwatch until after Diablo did well for them.
"We wanted to make sure to do it right"
And yet there is no physical release. I know there is a box with a code inside, but you can't resell or lend it to a friend, so I don't consider that physical.
I'd be more excited if there was an offline option. I guess there's no single-player campaign and they don't want to deal with programming artificial intelligence.
@Tasuki more like Tencent games decided to drop all support for the game on switch since very few people played it. Not a shock since to me it sucked.
Sure took their sweet time! This game was on my Switch Wish list since day 1!
@DJKeens 76 gay? Ha! A complete joke that has left a number of LGBT players I see/know shaking their heads in disbelief. “Inauthentic”, “random”, and so on are the words I hear to describe the debacle. The timing and execution of 76’s story regarding that was just wrong. Fanfiction writers would gladly put out the gayness ASAP, while the OW team took a couple of years for that. Lets face it, a brand new fighter who happens to be gay is a better job than 76 would ever be. Thus, I do agree with the dissent with Soldier 76.
OW has become a game that has an agenda and a toxic community. It is only fun with friends.
...Looking around for those who once said 'Overwatch is impossible for the Switch'....
I would have liked to have gotten the character skins I unlocked back when I played the PS4 version, but I didn't expect that. It would be nice if that came later though!
Still, I'll be gladly picking this one up!
@Agramonte I don't see cross save as an issue. They drop so many loot boxes since they introduced reputation and role queue... assuming you occasionally queue for tank/heals and are a a nice enough player
If I had a bunch of golden weapons I’d be concerned about cross saves, but I tired quickly of comp, as there is a lot of blame, and little objective play going on lol. Heard to many people melt down for nothing and throw winning games with their toxicity. Love me some quick play tho.
@Tasuki yup they abandoned it
that's nice but blizzard didn't seem to have their sights on basic human rights when one of their top players spoke ill of winnie the pooh's communist regime.
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