As you know, this generation is winding down in the spotlight, come next year, the 9th gen systems will make their debut. Sony's already blown the lid on specs for PS5, and everything they've listed sounds very impressive for next gen, and we're still waiting to see what Microsoft plans on doing with Scarlett. One common fear is that because next gen systems will be arriving, that means that the Switch will somehow suffer a mass exodus of third party support. Now it'll be a generation and a half behind the two main consoles, so it's most likely to receive even less AAA support than it was getting before, if it even gets any of those games at all. Now, that's most likely going to be true, the Switch is a tablet at the end of the day, and mobile technology still has limits as to what can realistically run on it. So no, Switch won't be the place to play the latest Call of Duty or Assassin's Creed titles with high end visuals.
But, I don't think that's bad. More specifically, I don't think not having the power for next-gen AAA games is really going to hurt the Switch that much for major publishers, because there is a market, for which games can be developed on a smaller, medium sized budget for all available consoles, and that's honestly, what I think the Switch's future will be in terms of major support, outside remasters and ports. We already started seeing seeds of this last year. Switch got games from Valkyria Chronicles 4, to Mega Man 11, to Starlink: Battle for Atlas same day as the other versions. Along with exclusives like Octopath Traveler, and even late ports like Crash and DBFZ. All of them did as well as, if not better than their PS4 and Xbox One counterparts, and they're games that are generally easier to downscale to Switch vs. the more AAA ones. This year, we have more games like Samurai Showdown, Crash Team Racing, Dauntless, Ninjala, Daemon X Machina, Oniaki, Ninja Box, Gods and Monsters, I'd even argue Mortal Kombat 11 to an extent that fill a niche between AAA and indie and as tired as the statement has become, are perfect for Switch.
That's where I think the future of the Switch will be for Major third parties. Sony and Microsoft have the AAA space locked down, but Capcom, Ubisoft, and the like can still make less demanding games that can run everywhere, and its more viable than its ever been. Game engines and graphical fidelity has progressed so much to the point where you can make a decent looking and solid game with about 30-40 people, run it on low end hardware, and still have it do pretty well. And with AAA games going to need even more resources and development time next gen now that 4k will be standard, the need to do less demanding projects will be greater. That, on top of remasters, Nintendo's own games, and the mountains of indies, the Switch should have more than enough support even going into next gen. And they wouldn't even need a "Pro" revision to do it, though it would certainly help.
But, I don't think that's bad. More specifically, I don't think not having the power for next-gen AAA games is really going to hurt the Switch that much for major publishers, because there is a market, for which games can be developed on a smaller, medium sized budget for all available consoles, and that's honestly, what I think the Switch's future will be in terms of major support, outside remasters and ports. We already started seeing seeds of this last year. Switch got games from Valkyria Chronicles 4, to Mega Man 11, to Starlink: Battle for Atlas same day as the other versions. Along with exclusives like Octopath Traveler, and even late ports like Crash and DBFZ. All of them did as well as, if not better than their PS4 and Xbox One counterparts, and they're games that are generally easier to downscale to Switch vs. the more AAA ones. This year, we have more games like Samurai Showdown, Crash Team Racing, Dauntless, Ninjala, Daemon X Machina, Oniaki, Ninja Box, Gods and Monsters, I'd even argue Mortal Kombat 11 to an extent that fill a niche between AAA and indie and as tired as the statement has become, are perfect for Switch.
That's where I think the future of the Switch will be for Major third parties. Sony and Microsoft have the AAA space locked down, but Capcom, Ubisoft, and the like can still make less demanding games that can run everywhere, and its more viable than its ever been. Game engines and graphical fidelity has progressed so much to the point where you can make a decent looking and solid game with about 30-40 people, run it on low end hardware, and still have it do pretty well. And with AAA games going to need even more resources and development time next gen now that 4k will be standard, the need to do less demanding projects will be greater. That, on top of remasters, Nintendo's own games, and the mountains of indies, the Switch should have more than enough support even going into next gen. And they wouldn't even need a "Pro" revision to do it, though it would certainly help.
