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Overwatch is coming to the Nintendo Switch soon. While this is great for owners of the console, it raises a few questions for fans who might not understand how the game is going to be ported to Nintendo’s hardware, which is weaker than its competitors.
Blizzard’s communication manager Nazih Fares said the company is limiting Overwatch’s resolution and frame rate to ensure a good experience on the Nintendo Switch. “Overwatch runs smoothly at 30fps with outputs of 900p docked and 720p undocked,” he wrote.
That means Overwatch players will have an adapted experience when playing on the Switch. The game easily reaches 1080p and 60 FPS in rival consoles PS4 and Xbox One, while the same is achievable with the right pieces of hardware on the PC. But Blizzard had to trade something to make Overwatch portable, and performance is the cost.
It’s unclear if Overwatch on the upcoming Nintendo Switch Lite will be at 720p and 30 frames per second like its undocked standard version.
Overwatch was never a demanding game for any console, but the amount of particles that can appear at once on the screen can increase the game’s demand for processing power from both graphics cards and CPUs. In the current game meta, where everyone is spamming shields and having their bullets explode in them, the visual clutter can be high enough to cause some performance loss in low-end computers running the game. It’s unclear if those frame rate and resolution caps are achieved in a standard match or if they’ve been tested for extreme situations, like chaotic teamfights.
Regardless of the game’s performance, Overwatch will be available on the Switch with the same features it has in all other platforms. The adaptations Blizzard is making probably won’t bring any other downside to player experience.
