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Despite Bethesda's Support, Fallout 76 Won't Be On Nintendo Switch
2 hours ago
While Bethesda has been keen on bringing properties both new and old to the Switch, the developer announced recently that they just couldn't make Fallout 76 work on Nintendo's platform.
The Switch is something I can say with certainty that it's a part of every conversation with every dev we have now about what we're doing going forward because we consider it to be a viable platform. If the game will work on it, we want it to be on every platform possible. Fallout 76 is not because it just wasn't doable. But honestly, there is no game in development that we haven't had a conversation about [bringing it to Switch].
The above quote comes from Bethesda marketing executive Pete Hines (via Gamespot), who was speaking during a recent panel hosted out of PAX Australia. Hines' comments show that Bethesda is pretty smitten with the Switch, as the company has apparently seen enough success there to make it a talking point for every upcoming project. Hines was careful to point out, however, that making a Bethesda game playable on Switch is not mandatory. Instead, he said that the question always comes up as to whether or not a game could work on the Switch. If the answer is yes, then it's something they will pursue. If not, then they move forward with development for other platforms.
What's impressive here is what, exactly, Bethesda has managed to make work on Nintendo's new console. At this point, Skyrim, Doom, Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus and Fallout Shelter have all launched on the Switch. While games like Doom and Wolfenstein may not look as crisp on the Switch as on the Xbox One or PlayStation 4, the fact that they've managed to get them up and running at all feels like something of a technical marvel. And that's something that is continuing to move forward, as the next Wolfenstein game, Doom Eternal and The Elder Scrolls Legends have all been confirmed for the Switch.
Based on all of that, it sounds like the limitation they can't quite get past is making large multiplayer titles run on the Switch. Fallout 76 is a limited MMO of sorts and the only other recent Bethesda game that hasn't made the cut is the straight-up MMO, The Elder Scrolls Online.
Still, it's encouraging to hear that Bethesda is so confident in the Switch. As Hines says later in his talk, the developer has to go where the money is because, at the end of the day, they're still a business. Not knowing exactly how well their current Switch lineup is performing, these kinds of positive comments have me thinking that, even if they aren't selling gangbusters, they've got to at least be moving enough units to make the effort worth it.
Capcom announced recently that even more Resident Evil games are being brought to the Switch and Square Enix has a boatload of Final Fantasy games on the way, so it sounds like Nintendo has really struck a chord with third-party developers and publishers with their latest piece of hardware.
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