Saber Interactive made a name for itself on the Nintendo Switch when it successfully ported The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt - Complete Edition to the system with some guidance – and a little bit of help – from CD Projekt Red. At the time of this release, it was proof the hybrid system was capable of running games available on certain other platforms.
Now, with this in mind, it's been officially confirmed a Nintendo Switch version of the cooperative third-person shooter World War Z is currently in development. Speaking to IGN, studio CEO Matt Karch said this next title for Switch – which doesn't yet have a release date – would be the "hardest thing" the team has done so far. It's also bringing across its own game engine:
Keep in mind that we are rendering scenes with hundreds of enemies and four players online. Getting this to run on the Switch is the hardest thing that we have had to do - this is true even though we are porting our own [Swarm] engine over to the platform.
When porting The Witcher 3 to Switch, the biggest challenge was finding which compromises could be made without significantly impacting the visuals. It'll likely be the same case for World War Z whenever it arrives.
Is this a port you'll be keeping an eye on? Did you play The Witcher 3 on Switch? Leave a comment below.
[source ign.com]
Comments 41
Yes, yes I am keeping an eye on this. Even if I don't play it I want to see how the port comes out.
This looks like L4D but more intense.
Edit: Gah, it's on the epic store for PC.
Getting a game like this running on the system will be a huge milestone in terms of what can be ported onto it.
I will buy this.
@Kalmaro
That's a shame. I had heard good things about it from a friend. There are definitely a lot of things similar to L4D even to the point of it seeming like a clone in some aspects, but since we don't have anything like it on the Switch I don't think that would be so bad.
@FiveDigitLP I guess the closest thing would be Payday 2.
@FiveDigitLP I had to edit my earlier comment, I got this game mixed up with another one.
That said, this game still gets pretty middling scores due to it be similar to other games (like L4D) and not doing enough to make it really stand out.
Saber Interactive developed the original game. They should be able to do this just fine since they know the game better than anybody else
It would be a milestone for sure if the Switch runs it but at the same time, the game’s kinda rubbish. It’s like a solid 5 across the board.
OOOOF i don't want to downplay the switch or anything.... But i doubt it'll have acceptable framerates. Especially if they intend on keeping the swarms with hundreds of zombies.
Coop? Sign me up.
It's a great game, really fun to play with friends, and impressive to see sooooo many zombies coming to get you. So happy it's coming to Switch!
@FiveDigitLP It is very similar to L4D, but much more... modern. L4D hasn't aged well. This one is pretty much the same concept, but a different perspective (third person), better gameplay and current graphics. It's really fun if you have friends to play with.
I'm seriously torn on this. I Iove co-op games, but I'm terrified the game won't sell well and will be left with no one playing after a couple weeks on the market.
I'd be really impressed if they manage a decent Switch port, but I doubt I will be buying it.
I wasn't particularly interested before and it was free on the Epic store recently...
Need to see Switch Demo....
How hard can it be? Just reduced the amount of zombies.
Cool. I don’t know anything about the game though
Might give it a try if the reviews are decent. For moment there I thought this was going to be a port of The War Z which was an awful 2012 PC survival zombie shooting game but then I realize that game change its titled to Infestation: Survivor Stories.
The fact that I still play L4D2 almost daily means I'm both excited for this... but also resigned to the fact that I'll probably just stick with L4D2.
How about fixing Vampyr Switch first. I have world war z on Xbox and that does the neat trick of simply not animating zombies when the load is too great, it looks like 1000 cardboard cut outs moving rapidly toward you, with that in mind they could do 2d sprite for zombies in the far distance with a few frames variation, leaving them enough headroom to animate the closer zombies that the player will be concerned about. The gameplay was basic but I enjoyed it more than Left for Dead (L4D was fairly pants in my opinion).
@FargusPelagius in Witcher3 far off NPCs occasionally have a severely reduced number of animation frames to reduce the strain. They briefly turn into Game And Watch characters. It always make me chuckle. Id imagine they’d do something similar in WWZ.
Whilst I do understand some of the resistance to Epic's exclusivity deals, I do use the epic store - I've bought a grand total of 1 exclusive (tertris effect) but have received over 60 free games over the last year... mainly indies but also a few AA / older AAA titles... including, ironically World War Z about a month ago.
@8itmap_k1d you sound like me, expect I still play lf41 as much as 2.
Not a fan of the extra zombie types.
Cripes guys, good luck with this port. I think the Switch may blow up.
I have 135 fps in this game on PC, and there is no way i'm gonna play it at max 30 fps on Switch.
We will see how it goes. The original is a really fun game, but even that version takes forever to get players in a lobby.
World War Z on the Switch = Death Road to Canada Z
@beazlen1 aye it is a common technique, WWZ does indeed use this anyway as my Xbox X can struggle. It was used a hell of alot in Resident evil Mercenaries and Revelations so those ran acceptably on 3DS and even on the PS2 version of Resident evil 4 (PS2 had less animation variation compared to GameCube as well). They'll need to use alot of tricks for smooth gameplay. Still immensely disappointed at Sabers Vampyr Switch port, it is a mess.
Shouldn't they get started on cyberpunk 2077 😄
Definite buy for me so long as it runs acceptably. I was a huge fan of L4D.
I don't know if this was a good choice of a game, especially since smaller studios live and die off of each release.
Witcher 3 was a fantastic choice since Switch contains a large RPG user base, combined with the game's inherent high quality and high demand. Bending over backwards to port a mediocre zombie shooter doesn't strike me as a good decision, but for their sake I hope I'm wrong.
@Kalmaro I got this game free from epic, but I still want to see how this will play out on switch.
@Casual_Gamer95 but the thing is that is what they are trying to do with this game on switch.
@beazlen1 Like the original DOOM they could just make them somewhat 2-d and make it look 3-D but that would make the game look a bit weird
@Audiogore0733 if they're trying to keep the massive swarms then they'll need one hell of a downgrade to have acceptable framerate
@Kalmaro always check the epic game store once a week. They just gave this game away free like 2 weeks ago. It’s a pretty good game I’d buy on switch if it runs properly.
Got this for free at the Epic Store so will check it out there. If it's good then a buy on Switch might be in the cards.
I could never find a physical copy of this game on PS4. But I’m all in for a Switch version.
Played Left 4 Dead on PC back in the day. Never got this when it came out. Imagine it's hard to find a game on most platforms now. If it's free in Epic it might still be populated there, though. Not sure tbh, depends on price.
I mean Hyrule warriors can have up to about 200 or more enemies almost on one screen and it dousn't really lag that much.
Excellent! This game is demanding because of its online components and the ridiculously huge quantities of zombies. If you can bring it to Switch with the less compromise possible, you seriously deserve an award. Can't wait!
I'm sure this will be the clsoest thing to Days Gone on Switch
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