Despite an early warning that there would be no Switch 2 news at their June briefing, the Nintendo Direct was still a satisfying summer showcase with plenty of exciting titles. We ran our very own Digital Foundry Direct special following the announcement, with John Linneman and Oliver Mackenzie highlighting some of the most anticipated games – including new Metroid, Zelda and Lego titles.
While a video version of this Direct is available for viewing below, I thought it might be interesting to talk about my personal highlight from the show, and perhaps more critically, how the announcements we saw today might translate to the eventual launch Switch 2nd build.
In the beginning, I was captivated by the game Lego: Lego Horizon Adventures. The original Horizon games – Zero Dawn and Forbidden West – have unbeatable environments, and it’s fascinating to see that translated into a world of colorful cubes. Most importantly, surprisingly little has been lost compared to the full-fat Unreal Engine 5 version of the game for PS5 and PC. Lumen RT’s high-quality reflections become SSR, and pristine virtual shadowmaps become traditional shadowmaps, but the visual character of the game remains – despite the limitations required to reach even 30fps on Switch versus 60fps elsewhere.
Lego games are traditionally some of the most faithful and fun adaptations of the franchise, and it’s clear that this title has a lot of promise – especially on Switch, where the visuals and gameplay are perfectly suited for handheld play. I’m looking forward to seeing how it turns out later this year, and maybe in 2025 we’ll see a visually enhanced version of the Switch’s successor.
Speaking of which, one big advantage Nintendo benefited from with the Switch was a huge back catalog of Wii U titles after relatively weak sales of that system’s consoles. This meant a lot of really good games that didn’t find a large audience, so Nintendo was able to take good advantage of it and do (relatively) straightforward remakes and remasters to make profitable Switch releases. As John mentions during the Direct, with relatively few big or notable Wii U titles yet to be remastered, that well is starting to run dry going forward into the Switch 2.
Given that the Switch will be around eight years old by the time the Switch 2 arrives – rumors place it in March 2025 – it’s clear that Nintendo didn’t feel obligated to push out a successor console at the same cadence as rivals Sony and Microsoft. However, this patience has an impact on the game lineup, as titles that could theoretically launch alongside Switch 2 2024 will now only arrive for the original Switch, or will have to wait for the new console with a significant delay.
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It will be interesting to see if some of the games arriving over the next year bear any signs of Switch 2-focused development – ​​such as 30fps games from series that tend to stick to 60fps, or those that run at surprisingly low resolutions but come with fairly advanced graphics functions. These kinds of compromises can be common for titles across generations, and as Oliver points out in the Direct, this could be one of the longest intergenerational periods for a Nintendo console ever.
Then we’ll stay tuned for potential Switch 2 titles, and hopefully Nintendo will provide more information about the successor console, its capabilities, and software lineup as 2024 closes and we enter 2025. I’m cautiously optimistic that Nintendo’s strategy here is wise, and always has been. the possibility of a faster-than-expected Switch 2 and a stacked launch lineup given the extra time they’ve taken to prepare the new console, even though brand new Wiis are relatively few. For titles waiting in the wings for their moment to shine.
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