Games Inbox: What will be the Nintendo Switch 2 launch games?

The Friday letters page is more confused than ever about Xbox’s multiformat policy, as one reader fears for the future of Assassin’s Creed and Ubisoft.

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Educated guess
The Nintendo Switch 2 reveal has surely got to be just days away at this point, but we still know nothing about any of the games, not even a blatantly fake rumour. I do think it’s fairly easy to guess though, or at least it would be if Nintendo were a normal company.

As GC has pointed out before, Mario Kart 9 is well overdue at this point and a perfect launch title. At the same time, we know Metroid Prime 4 for Switch 1 is due out this year and that seems a no-brainer for a cross-gen release.

So, a super popular sequel that’s very casual friendly and a long-awaited one that the hardcore crowd will eat up… sound like the perfect line-up to me. Add in a Zelda remaster and a smaller title or two and you’ve got perfect launch conditions, I would say.

Of course, you can’t predict Nintendo, so it’ll probably end up being 1-2-3-Switch and a Devil World sequel, but in terms of sensible guesses I think that’s the best you can make.
Onibee

Direct contradictions
Glad to hear that Microsoft has another new game to announce at their next Direct. They’ve had a really good stream of games lately, even if none of them have been big hitters. Looking at the line-up for this one though and their multiformat policy seems even more strange.

Doom: The Dark Ages is multiformat, we knew that already, but for some reason South Of Midnight isn’t. Avowed isn’t either, which is weird because I would say those two games were probably not going to be big sellers. Shouldn’t Microsoft be making them multiformat too, to have any chance of making their money back?

Or have they given up on that chance already (these games would’ve been greenlit years ago, before the current problems) and just want them for the kudos of having possibly highly rated exclusives on the Xbox? And yet Microsoft keeps saying it doesn’t like exclusives? The whole thing is a mass of contradictions and random decisions.
Clooney

Sticking to the plan
I know a lot of them have come from CES but I really can’t put up with weeks more of Switch 2 leaks. Not because they might not be true but because they clearly are real. I get that no big secrets have been spoiled yet (the whole mystery button issue still seems unsolved to me) but I really think Nintendo should put an end to the uncertainty.

On the other hand, I admire the fact that, as usual, they don’t seem to care what anyone else does or thinks and are just carrying on with their original plan. And if the games they unveil look good nobody’s really going to care. This whole period of leak after leak is going to be instantly forgotten once we get an official reveal, even though it seems to be going on forever.
Grackle

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Iconic straggler
Interested to hear what Xbox’s new game is but I’m a bit concerned that Fable is not part of the line-up. They’ve said it’s 2025 but not with any conviction and I think there’s a very good chance it’s going to be delayed into next year.

We’ve waited this long, so it doesn’t really matter, but I think these problems are part of what has killed Xbox as a hardware format. First they had a bunch of duds in Halo Infinite, Redfall, and Starfield and then it just took too long to make anything else.

I’m sure Microsoft is hoping Fable can be their equivalent of Zelda of The Last Of Us, not in terms of gameplay necessary but in terms of being a system-selling iconic game. But it’s just going to arrive too late. They put their bets on the wrong horses and now the race is over. It’s unfortunate, because we need strong competition but time was a factor here and they’ve blown it.
Krieg

Short but sweet
In a few reviews I’ve seen GC put a short runtime down as a con, like with Antonblast.

But with triple-A bloat and so many games releasing many see a sub-10 hours runtime as a positive. We had a feature recently where the author had taken the rather extreme decision to skip games over 10 hours.

I’m curious as why to you GC feel a short runtime is a con in a game like Antonblast.

I’m guessing that GC doesn’t feel a short runtime is a con in isolation and your just balancing runtime with other factors like cost.
Simundo

GC: Because we wanted more of it?

Familiar problem
I hate to say it, but I have to join the doomsters when it comes to Ubisoft. If their future depends on Assassin’s Creed Shadows then I don’t think they’re going to live to see 2026, not as an independent company anyway. They haven no one to blame but themselves, with too much reliance on aging franchises, most of which have basically the same gameplay.

They also completely failed to prepare for games costing too much and taking too long to make. While at the same time they’ve obsessed about live service games, none of which have worked out for them.

Problem is you could say the same for almost every other publisher too. The only difference for Ubisoft is that spread themselves too thin. People mock them for making a dozen Assassin’s Creed games at a time, but at least those usually sell. If they’d made more, and not stuff like Star Wars Outlaws and the Avatar games, then they’d probably be in a better position.

I actually prefer that they tried to do other things, but it wasn’t the smart business decision. Activision basically makes only one game and if Call Of Duty ever went out of fashion they’d be done. But they won’t be because playing soldiers is something people will want to do forever. Nothing Ubisoft makes, with the possible exception of Rainbow Six Siege, is anything like that.

If Shadows sinks Assassin’s Creed as a guaranteed hit, and they haven’t got something soon to make up for it, I fear the worst.
Gildower

Glass ceiling
In response to Anon’s letter in the Thursday Inbox, I don’t think that anyone believes we’ve actually reached the graphical limits. It’s just that we’ve begun to reach the point where it’s not commercially viable to increase them further.

As you say, even aside from the costs, you run the risk of uncanny valley and debates on overly realistic violence.
Matt (he_who_runs_away – PSN ID)

GC: Exactly, there are multiple reasons why it won’t happen anytime soon, with serious practical, monetary, and ethical concerns.

It’s true, all of it
It seems that the Switch 2 rumours are the talk of the town at the moment and to be fair all this new information you’re providing us with in your news everyday does look ultra convincing to me now. If it’s not true, then they’ve got the best of us fooled by these recently leaked pictures, because it’s convinced me that this is now the real thing we’re looking at.

The Switch 2 is a good name for it I feel, it’s natural progression and has always worked for the PlayStation brand. This would definitely help any past Wii into Wii U mistakes with the naming of the console, that we had in the past.

My only worry about the new machine is convincing your non-gaming parents, buying the next gen machine for their kids, that this is a next gen console. They really need to differentiate it from the current gen Switch. Like the Lite version of the current Switch, that is pretty much the same thing, just a bit more bare bones and smaller. They need to advertise this thing heavily to get people to know it’s the all-singing and all-dancing new product.

Without knowing tech specs of the new hardware, as I’ve not seen any leaks for that yet, I hope it’s got HDR, because that’s really been a game changer for me with this gen of consoles. I run my current Switch on an OLED TV and you can really see how washed out the colours are compared to an Xbox Series X.

I’m a big Nintendo fan and the whole thing looks promising. The Switch is a fantastic console and a high spec upgrade is the right way to go I feel. I’m intrigued to see what more information you can pass to us over the coming weeks. I feel a full reveal is imminent now.

Currently playing Broforce on Switch, in its final form. Excellent game for the just over £2 that I paid for it.
Nick The Greek

GC: The specs haven’t leaked but images of the motherboard have, suggesting the console is equivalent to a souped up PlayStation 4 in portable form.

Inbox also-rans
I see you managed to invoke some reverse Inbox magic with wanting a Transformers game, with the one Splash Damage were working on being cancelled. I thought it already had been, but even so it’s a shame.
Aldei

GC: It never works for us, only readers.

Looks like Nintendo has finally announced their new console, only it’s made out of Lego. Is this another troll because announcing Lego 10 months before it’s going to come out seems a bit weird.
Dougal