{"id":99210,"date":"2019-08-27T17:00:00","date_gmt":"2019-08-27T17:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nintendolife.com\/news\/2019\/08\/talking_point_with_overwatch_apparently_switch-bound_the_futures_bright_for_blizzard_and_nintendo"},"modified":"2019-08-27T17:00:00","modified_gmt":"2019-08-27T17:00:00","slug":"talking-point-with-overwatch-apparently-switch-bound-the-futures-bright-for-blizzard-and-nintendo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/2019\/08\/27\/talking-point-with-overwatch-apparently-switch-bound-the-futures-bright-for-blizzard-and-nintendo\/","title":{"rendered":"Talking Point: With Overwatch Apparently Switch-Bound, The Future’s Bright For Blizzard And Nintendo"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"Tracer\"<\/a><\/figure>\n

News that an officially-licenced<\/a> Overwatch<\/a><\/strong> carry case for Nintendo Switch is available suggests an announcement on the horizon that many of us have expected \u2013 Overwatch is Switch-bound. While it’s not yet confirmed, it would be a cruel joke to put out licensed accessories for a console you can’t play the game on.<\/p>\n

Winner of multiple 2016 Game of the Year awards, many people want to see Overwatch on Nintendo\u2019s handheld (including us) and Blizzard has been ‘open-minded’ about it for a while now<\/a>. The colourful team-based FPS would certainly be a good fit for Switch; another fine feather in the console\u2019s cap and a further example of how Nintendo\u2019s approach to third parties has been transformed this generation. Who could have guessed that both Bethesda and Blizzard would be bringing their big guns to a Nintendo platform just a generation ago?<\/p>\n

The fact that Switch has been a runaway success obviously helps, but the combination of a familiar, developer-friendly architecture, clear marketing and broad appeal has made a Nintendo console financially viable to those companies for the first time in a long<\/em> time. We’re used to the lip service and soundbites of executives and directors commenting on how they respect Nintendo\u2019s legacy and influence on video games, but to see those easy compliments backed up with<\/a> actual software<\/a><\/em> is a welcome change from the past.<\/p>\n

Since the success of Diablo III<\/a><\/strong> on Switch, Blizzard has had nothing but good things to say about the platform holder. Obviously, a torrent of abuse would be unlikely even if things weren\u2019t so rosy, but on the other hand Blizzard isn\u2019t obligated to make glowing comments about business partners, either. In discussion with Kotaku<\/a> senior producer Pete Stilwell was overflowing with positive adjectives when it came to Nintendo, describing the relationship as \u2018extremely positive, extremely healthy\u2019. Incredibly, he also used the word \u2018forward-thinking\u2019, which suggests a continuing partnership that will extend beyond the next game, and likely Switch itself.<\/p>\n

\"Diablo\"<\/a><\/figure>\n

For fans used to the stock \u201cWe love Nintendo!… but we have nothing to announce\u201d, enthusiasm like this is most encouraging. Despite a third-party track record best described as \u2018patchy\u2019 (whether we’re talking about the draconian licencing terms of the old days or seeming indifference and awkwardness during the Wii era), Nintendo must<\/em> be able to see the value these quality third-party ports bring to its platform. We\u2019ve seen a dramatic turnaround in the indie space with Switch and this happily seems to extend to the bigger companies and publishers. Bethesda\u2019s apparent gamble of porting DOOM<\/a><\/strong> (2016) had a knock-on effect and attracted the attention of bigger companies that have ignored Nintendo platforms for years, if only because the spec disparity that’s existed since the Wii made ports impractical. As evidenced by games as expansive as The Witcher 3<\/a><\/strong> coming to the console, Switch\u2019s broad popularity offers those companies access to an audience that can be tough to find elsewhere, and one that’s vital to future prosperity \u2013 namely, kids.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s not to say younger gamers don\u2019t have PlayStations and Xboxes, but Switch offers a portal to a whole demographic of new potential fans getting exposed to games like Diablo, Skyrim<\/a><\/strong> and DOOM for the first time on Switch. For the likes of Bethesda and Blizzard, that\u2019s at least as valuable as catering to existing or lapsed gamers who simply want to play these classics on-the-go. No, children shouldn’t<\/em> be playing DOOM, but that didn’t stop us back in the day, and we doubt it stops them now.<\/p>\n

Young or old, it’s the person who\u2019s just finished Breath of the Wild<\/a><\/strong> or Splatoon 2<\/a><\/strong> or Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3<\/strong><\/a> and is dipping their toe into the wider gaming pool for the first time that Blizzard’s really<\/em> after. The twitching eSports arenas of PCs might be intimidating for newcomers, but Overwatch on Switch? That could just be the gateway for a whole new wave of future fans. Plus, existing fans can now play on the toilet! Everyone\u2019s a winner with a quality Switch port.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s easy to forget that Blizzard has history with Nintendo, too, even if the results didn\u2019t set the world alight. If nothing else, StarCraft 64<\/strong> showed a desire to engage with Nintendo\u2019s audience; the game required significant reworking to function on console and launched in 2000, long after the bloom was off the N64\u2019s rose. With conditions on Switch being much<\/em> more favourable, it\u2019s only natural that we see Blizzard returning now that the technical barriers are lower and mobile devices force developers to consider scalability from the very beginning.<\/p>\n

\"Overwatch\"<\/a><\/figure>\n

That doesn\u2019t mean we should take the influx of \u2018miracle\u2019 ports as a sign that everything<\/em> must inevitably come to Switch. Are we likely to see World of Warcraft<\/strong> or StarCraft<\/strong>? Even with the touchscreen offering improved UI options, it still seems unlikely<\/a> given the investment of time and resources it would take to build a quality port of such huge games, but stranger things have happened. The chance to reach that untapped audience means the possibility must have been raised at Blizzard HQ.<\/p>\n

Let’s not get ahead of ourselves, though. It\u2019s easy to get carried away with Wolfenstein II<\/a><\/strong> and Witcher 3 arriving in fine form (despite obvious caveats), but there are still games that would be unworkable on Switch in its current form. On the topic of Elder Scrolls Online<\/a><\/strong>, for example, ZeniMax Online Studios’ Game Director Matt Firor recently spoke very plainly<\/a> about the prospects of the MMORPG coming to Switch:<\/p>\n

\n

Not going to happen. The only way it\u2019d work is if there was some kind of streaming service on Switch. It\u2019s just not powerful enough.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

That seems pretty watertight, and it\u2019s hard to argue that games of this sort would have trouble retaining the overall vision and experience players get on other platforms. The incentive to overcome those considerable technical hurdles that prevent quick ports of Warcraft and StarCraft probably isn\u2019t there at the moment, but the precedent has been set and there\u2019s a hungry, growing audience for these meaty experiences on Switch.<\/p>\n

There are other easier options still on the table, too. It\u2019s surprising that we haven\u2019t seen Hearthstone<\/strong> yet. A deck-building card game set in the Warcraft universe, it would be a great fit for the system and its touchscreen, and with Blizzard and Nintendo\u2019s rekindled relationship you\u2019d assume it\u2019s only a matter of time.<\/p>\n

While certain companies refuse to commit – we’re looking at you EA<\/a><\/em> – having one of gaming\u2019s titans releasing quality software from its premium franchises on a Nintendo console feels pretty special for fans that couldn\u2019t have dreamed of this situation a generation ago. Whatever the future holds, it’s never looked brighter for fans of Blizzard and Nintendo.<\/p>\n

How do you think Overwatch would translate to Switch? Do you think we’ll see more fruits from this blossoming relationship in the future? Let us know your thoughts in the usual place.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

News that an officially-licenced Overwatch carry case for Nintendo Switch is available suggests an announcement on the horizon that many of us have expected \u2013 Overwatch is Switch-bound. While it’s not yet confirmed, it would be a cruel joke to put out licensed accessories for a console you can’t play the game on. Winner of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-99210","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-nintendo-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99210","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=99210"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99210\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=99210"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=99210"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=99210"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}