Brian Cho, a former executive at Riot that helped launch League of Legends and current co-founding partner at consumer VC firm Patron, has had a long history in the industry. Throughout his years, he has kept a watchful eye on game development trends to see the ebbs and flows of what new hardware and technology can enable.
GamesBeat was able to ask Cho a few questions about the recently-revealed Switch 2 and, while we are still firmly in the realm of speculation, what it might mean for game development going forward.
While the general thinking is that hardware capability is just a constantly raising ceiling, with more powerful graphical technology merely providing more space overhead. Cho argues that there may be a a side benefit to putting Nintendo’s hardware more in line with with its contemporaries.
“It should make cross-platform development much smoother than it is today,” Cho answers. “If Switch has better networking, graphics, and performance capabilities on par with Xbox and PS5, it should make porting and multi-platform launches much more attractive to developers. It seems everything is pointing in this direction based on the rumors around launch titles available on current-gen triple-A consoles that wouldn’t have been possible on the first-gen Switch.”
None of these rumors have been confirmed yet, as Nintendo has not announced any software for the Switch 2 absent some brief footage of what appears to be a brand new Mario Kart title. That said, the rumors Cho is referring to indicate the Switch 2 will play software comparable to the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X, perhaps with quite a few compromises. So a game that can run on all these systems is a game that does not need a different team or additional focus, saving developers time and resources. Nintendo has said that a software showcase will be held in April, when the veracity of these rumors can be truly determined.
Cho references another rumored title, the Final Fantasy VII series’ anticipated third game, when talking about how he expects the overall third-party development portfolio on Switch 2 to change.
“I’d expect it to be much smoother in porting and, more importantly, less console-exclusive launch for triple-A games,” Cho argues. “If titles like Final Fantasy 7 Part 3 are any indication, I think third-party launch exclusives will be a thing of the past, as it’s not worth it for game developers.”
Speaking of rumors, Cho also thinks that the Switch 2’s rumored (though heavily hinted) controller features might themselves be what leaps out at developers looking to make games for the console.
“I’m excited and curious to see what they do with the teased mouse feature. Unclear how much of that will enable titles that you’d typically find on pc setups, like FPS and RTS games, to be more viable on Switch, even relative to its console competitors,” he says.
Finally, Cho believes that the ubiquity of cross-platform engines like Unity and Unreal will be a boon to Switch 2 development. The higher capability of the hardware should allow more modern versions of those engines to run, meaning that less time is spent trying to port between engine versions that do not even share all the same features.
“Again, I’d expect things to go smoother – if anything, game devs had to lower specs and make things more Switch-specific; if fidelity is on par with PS or Xbox, I’d imagine more straightforward support, especially if games are being developed off Unreal and Unity.”
Launch details about the Switch 2 have yet to be revealed by Nintendo. Things like software, price, and release date are expected to be announced at the aforementioned software showcase taking place on April 2nd.