There wasn't an audience for either PS4 or XB1 before someone actually put the software out there. There was a short time where we weren't really sure it was coming to console and was strictly going to be a PC thing only after all. What also sells Overwatch more than anything else, is the characters themselves and how Blizzard pushes them as evidenced by the mountains of fan art and shipping people do with the characters themselves.
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Jeff Kaplan: Blizzard would have to "revisit performance" to get Overwatch on Switch
- Thread starter richiek
- Start date
There wasn't an audience for either PS4 or XB1 before someone actually put the software out there. There was a short time where we weren't really sure it was coming to console and was strictly going to be a PC thing only after all. What also sells Overwatch more than anything else, is the characters themselves and how Blizzard pushes them as evidenced by the mountains of fan art and shipping people do with the characters themselves.
The downfall here and with every pc or console port will be the cpu.
And it's not more powerful than a GPD Win there.
Quite the opposite.
The numbers say otherwise even without touching the software side of this argument, which is a pretty big one.
I don't see the CPU being an issue either, it's not like the GPD Win is using an i3 or something. Running Windows takes a lot of resources.
plagiarize
Banned
It's not optimized for the system. It's a less powerful system than the Switch. It's also running Windows 10.
Like I say, this statement is an educated guess from someone who as far as we know hasn't developed anything for the Tegra X1 chipset or the Switch, but it's still a guess. Plus you only need to look at other games on Switch to know that even if *Blizzard's* technology would need a lot of reworking to offer a game with the same gameplay on the system, that it could be done.
This is an opportunity cost thing, just as it was with EA and Frostbite on the Wii U. That engine leaned heavily on the CPU and that was the weak link in the Switch. It would have taken significant work to port Frostbite games to the Wii U, but the Wii U was powerful enough to run those titles as we saw when Criterion took the time to drastically rework their own engine to suit the hardware (moving CPU tasks to compute shaders) and delivered the best looking console version of NFS: Most Wanted. It probably was a dumb idea to do, and I doubt it made any money, but there you go.
Plus 'We'd have to revisit performance' isn't 'the system can't handle this game'.
Garrett Hawke
Member
Everyone posting Overwatch running on a low end laptop are forgetting that it's usually using performance tweaks like disabling shadows and running at 30fps using a sub native render scale.
Overwatch at 30fps sucks.
Overwatch at 30fps sucks.
plagiarize
Banned
MatrixMan.EXE
Member
Oh stop it. I really wish people would stop saying this when talking about potential Switch ports just because it has a modern architecture. That only goes so far in making up for hardware deficits. Just accept that the Switch is not powerful enough, nor the architecutrue similar enough to the other consoles/PC to get easy ports of AAA games.
Last_colossi
Member
Please Mr. Kaplan, bring it over to the Switch, 720p 60fps is all we need.
Spine_Ripper
Member
The dream is over
Now let's start begging for Diablo 3 lol
Now let's start begging for Diablo 3 lol
TheLegendaryN
Member
Snake Pass runs through Unreal Engine, which itself is highly optimized for Switch. I assume Overwatch is running on an internal engine, so Blizzard will need to do keep the Switch compatibility of their engine updated as well. Overwatch takes a Software as a Service approach, while Snake Pass is a full release without content updates or DLC planned for a long period of time.
kraspkibble
Permabanned.
so what? if they have to go back and "revisit performance" then they will IF the nintendo switch sells well enough. if it sells really well then you bet they will look to put it out on the Switch. people forget that Blizzard is there to make $ at the end of the day. if they see an opportunity to make more $ then they'll be right in there. it's not like going back to "revisit performance" would be a huge task for them. they have the manpower and money to make it happen. it's just a matter of "is it there a chance of a profit or not?"
personally i wouldn't care if the game ran at 720p and had lower visual settings. as long as it was 60fps and the gameplay stayed the same i'd be happy.
personally i wouldn't care if the game ran at 720p and had lower visual settings. as long as it was 60fps and the gameplay stayed the same i'd be happy.
NeOak
Member
ROFLMAO
Port Hearthstone
See if people spend mad bank of microtransactions
Port Overwatch for loot box sales
TalentAlwaysWins
Banned
"Selling well" for a Nintendo system does not equal 3rd party support
Revolutionary
Member
Oh look, it's what I've been saying since the first interview. Glad he made it clear this time.
A Switch port with the current requirements would look and run like this
A Switch port with the current requirements would look and run like this
kraspkibble
Permabanned.
what you on about? i'm just saying if enough people own a Switch then Blizzard will put games out on it. Say it sold just as much as a PS4/XB1 you think they wouldn't release Overwatch for it? Hell every other studio would be releasing games for it. right now the switch hasn't sold enough for any company to justify it as it might not be profitable.
makes sense. it would be easier for them to get that over to switch. if it takes off then bring Overwatch to Switch too.
kraspkibble
Permabanned.
lol wut
The Wii sold like hot cakes, it still didn't get most multiplat games.
kraspkibble
Permabanned.
because of the motion control bullshit no doubt. don't blame developers for wanting to avoid that mess.
TalentAlwaysWins
Banned
So the Wii got GTA and other 3rd party games because it sold more than the others?
What? You could make a Wii game without motion controls.
AlexFlame116
Member
Just make an exclusive Overwatch single player point and click adventure made by TellTale games. Simple.
Do you guys really need the JK?
plagiarize
Banned
He's referencing the Wii. But the issues there were that the hardware was not at all conducive to ports, so you basically had to develop a completely separate title (as many developers did in the earlier days) if you wanted your game on that system. A few developers were lucky enough to have good engines from the Gamecube days (like Capcom) but most didn't.
Forgotten Sands. Ghostbusters. I'm sure there are more examples. But that all dried up.
After the Wii U, AAA devs are taking a wait and see approach, and I think that's more than fair. But I also think they're starting to see potential, and if the indie games do well, all this talk from indie devs about how easy it is to port games to the system, well I think it's got a much better shot than I thought when I looked at the (pre indie game direct) software line up.
Seriously, Snake Pass clearly demonstrates the Switch is weaker than the Xbox One, but I don't think it's by such a large margin that we won't see a lot more multiplatform titles make the leap than we did on Wii U.
That's a low bar, absolutely, but I think it'll easily clear it.
And there lies the problem.
ZombiePlatypus
Member
Ummm I'd day one a game like that. Even if it completely excludes Overwatch's online multilayer.
AstroNut325
Member
Man... It's like people here know better than actual game developers.
Last_colossi
Member
Attach rates are super important to publisher's, the Vita kept & still is getting software releases because the attach rate for games per console is so high. I'm sure most Switch owners like myself are starving for more AAA games and between now and Super Mario Odyssey it's a great time for some publisher's to make some bank.
Overwatch would be so perfect on the Switch...
Overwatch would be so perfect on the Switch...
Succinct Verbosity
Member
How does overwatch run on lower end rigs, i wonder. I have been rocking a 980ti and i7 4770 since it launched, so i really have no idea how it runs.
A system with a slower cpu and a faster gpu might be able to run a game better than a system where the opposite is true.
Crazy, i know.
It's just not a good fit for the platform at this point in time.
they just hate nintendo and nintendo fans so much that they're purposefully trying to drag the console and not provide their game to switch owners
plagiarize
Banned
It runs Snake Pass at 1/3rd the frame rate of the Switch version.
The Switch runs Snake Pass at the same framerate as the Xbox One and the PS4 with a reduction in resolution (small when docked, significant when portable) and with a couple of minor graphical effects dropped (water caustics).
If GDP can run Overwatch at 30 fps at 720p without any attempts to optimize the game for that platform, the Switch can absolutely run it.
How much work that would be and whether it would be work investing in dev kits and man hours to make a Switch version... that's the real thing pushing wait and see here. If their engine is CPU heavy porting to Switch will be more expensive than were it CPU light.
But if a cheap Atom based handheld Win 10 PC can almost cope with the game, then you can bet that *if Blizzard felt it was financially worthwhile* that the game would be on Switch running at a smooth 60 fps.
Last_colossi
Member
How so?
Yeah. These threads always get pretty embarrassing.
I understand OW is the new hotness from Bilzz, but has anyone asked about other Blizz properties on the Switch. I mean Hearthstone is still making serious bank for Blizz and I would think that would be a good marriage with the Switch as a way for them to dip their toes into the Nintendo ecosystem. Plus Hearthstone would literally have 0 competition for its genre on the Switch.
franklyshankly
Member
Honest question - why would I care about hearthstone on switch when I can already play it on any existing mobile device? It's a card game it's not like you're missing out on anything with the mobile versions.
I'd rather have blizzard port their games that I can't play on my phone personally.
Yo Knightmare
Neo Member
Do they even have dev kits?
"It sounds more like we don't wanna. We haven't done much with ARM"
plagiarize
Banned
And you can take an engine designed for a system with a fast CPU and a slow GPU and with some work, getting it running on a system with a slow CPU and a fast GPU. How much work, and whether it's worth investing in, that's the question.
Not whether or not the Switch is capable of running anything at least as well as the GDP can, because of course it is.
That's the usual console vs pc thing though, games on consoles are optimized for their hardwares while on pc they are more generic so in general even on similar hardwares consoles usually have better performances(without taking into account that many 3d indie games aren't optimized at all on pc), but on the other hand on consoles you have to hope and beg to have a certain third party game ported on them, while on pc usually you just have it.
After many years of hoping/begging and signing petitions for the vita personally i decided to have everything, after all that's what i have always wanted and cared the most, games not power or exclusives, and if a game doesn't run well.... well there are thousands others i can play
There absolutely nothing perfect about it.