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Jeff Kaplan: Blizzard would have to "revisit performance" to get Overwatch on Switch

richiek

steals Justin Bieber DVDs
http://www.express.co.uk/entertainm...LIST-Blizzard-Overwatch-min-specs-performance

Overwatch director Jeff Kaplan recently said that the company was open to a Switch port, but admitted that it would be a challenge.

"Getting OW on the Switch is very challenging for us," he said last month. "But we're always open minded about exploring possible platforms."

In an exclusive follow-up interview with Express Online, Kaplan said that Blizzard would have to "revisit performance" to make Overwatch run on Nintendo Switch.

"I think the problem is, we've really targeted our min spec in a way that we would have to revisit performance and how to get on that platform," he said.

"And also, it's already challenging right now maintaining three platforms and patching simultaneously, which is something that we've finally been able to achieve."

Kaplan said that he was proud of his team for being able to patch simultaneously, and that a Nintendo Switch port would make that difficult.

"Our first couple of patches would come out on PC first and then later on the consoles," he continued. "And a lot of that is because you're working with Microsoft and Sony, and you want to be compliant to their ecosystems.

"Adding a third ecosystem to that just adds a lot of complexity for us, as well."

Kaplan is, however, a big fan of the Nintendo Switch, and hasn't ruled out a Nintendo port completely.

"But I always like to tell people we're very open-minded about what platforms we could be on.

"Just because we're not on a platform right now, it doesn't mean we won't reconsider it in the future, so we stay aware of all these things."

Damn. It looks like porting Overwatch to the Switch would be more challenging than first thought. I would buy it in an instant, even though I already have it on PC.
 
Yeah id imagine, the game was made with modern pc's and consoles and mind and the switch while being a great system isnt nearly as powerful as either
 
Performance is not an issue. The Switch uses modern technology and its not like Overwatch is an intensive game. Older computers run it just fine. I think in time we could very well see Overwatch on Switch.
 
Dang. Doesn't sound that promising.

But on the very slim chance that it does happen, I would immediately buy it! Already have Overwatch on PS4 but Overwatch on the go sounds like heaven!
 

border

Member
I don't know why people even ask them about Overwatch on Switch, or why Blizzard keeps stringing people along with their answers. Just say "No," dude......otherwise people are just going to get their hopes up.

A year-old port of an online-only shooter is a terrible fit for the platform. Nobody in their right mind would finance it.
 

Magwik

Banned
I don't know why people even ask them about Overwatch on Switch, or why they keep stringing people along with their answers.

A year-old port of an online-only shooter is a terrible fit for the platform. Nobody in their right mind would finance it.
Nobody in their right mind would finance a port of one of the most successful games of this generation?
 

ricelord

Member
I don't know why people even ask them about Overwatch on Switch, or why they keep stringing people along with their answers.

A year-old port of an online-only shooter is a terrible fit for the platform. Nobody in their right mind would finance it.

that and not many people have switch.
 

Mario007

Member
Performance is not an issue. The Switch uses modern technology and its not like Overwatch is an intensive game. Older computers run it just fine. I think in time we could very well see Overwatch on Switch.
Just having modern mobile architecture is not enough to say "performance is not an issue".
 

LeleSocho

Banned
Gee that seems familiar... oh right it's what i've been hearing the last 11 years.
I wonder if Nintendo can do something about that in their next console ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
 
Sounds like they don't want to do it due to simultaneous patching and how Switch will bog them down
I think so to. Overwatch is not that taxing on any platform. I just think this is a nice way to say "nah, we don't wanna port this game to switch, sorry."
 

Rodin

Member
Lol at the specs part. The game runs on an Intel HD4400 iGPU and an old ass Phenom X3. Just say you can't/don't want to support 4 platforms unless the opportunity is just too big to pass on (i.e. if Switch sells a fuckton).
 

jroc74

Phone reception is more important to me than human rights
Performance is not an issue. The Switch uses modern technology and its not like Overwatch is an intensive game. Older computers run it just fine. I think in time we could very well see Overwatch on Switch.
How big is the game? Maybe it's a size issue. And what are the minimum PC specs?

Could be storage and ram issue.
 

Jawmuncher

Member
I still think the whole online only thing will be the bigger factor. I'm curious how DQX and Steep will fare, since they'll be doing the same thing.
 
Performance is not an issue. The Switch uses modern technology and its not like Overwatch is an intensive game. Older computers run it just fine. I think in time we could very well see Overwatch on Switch.

Performance is absolutely an issue. That's his whole point. Sure the Switch has Maxwell cores, but Maxwell has been around since 2014 so it's not exactly the most modern. And it has the equivalent of something that's like 1/3 as powerful as a GeForce 750ti, which makes it much slower than most modern computers.

All the other platforms is x86 as well, which would mean porting to ARM, which I doubt is a trivial task.
 

15strong

Member
Performance is not an issue. The Switch uses modern technology and its not like Overwatch is an intensive game. Older computers run it just fine. I think in time we could very well see Overwatch on Switch.

The guy who works for blizzard just said performance is an issue. Why would you say it's not?
 

Majine

Banned
I'd be more worried about staying online with the terrible Wi-Fi I'm getting on the thing.

No, this is a terrible fit.
 
Yeah id imagine, the game was made with modern pc's and consoles and mind and the switch while being a great system isnt nearly as powerful as either

Yet he didn't make a big deal about power. It sounded more like it was a bit of a hassle add Nintendo into the mix in regards to general support.
 

border

Member
Nobody in their right mind would finance a port of one of the most successful games of this generation?

With Nintendo's online situation being such a clusterfuck, the small userbase, and the generally poor commercial reception of old ports.......I don't see what the point would be. The very gist of Kaplan's statement here is "We could do it, but don't think it's worth the effort".
 
Just port Hearthstone on Switch. Easy money.

Yeah, this would make a ton of sense. But I don't see it happening either, which sucks. if Blizzard doesn't see any need to bring that game to PS4 and XB1, I certainly don't see a Switch version happening.
 

Alucrid

Banned
"jeff kaplan when can we expect overwatch on the switch?"

bKwNUm9.png
 

Buzzman

Banned
A downclocked SoC comparable to a several year old iPhone, yeah why would there ever be any performance problems.
 
With Splatoon coming out I doubt Overwatch would sell on Switch. The Ninty crowd don't seem like the type to support two online shooters, and given a choice they're picking the Nintendo developed game 100% of the time.
 

Jackano

Member
First of all if they're on 3 ecosystems and he think his teams aren't secure enough on releasing patches in a timely fashion, maybe he should ask for more people or question his management skills.

But maybe the true challenge would be to keep an active community against Splatoon 2.
 

Hoo-doo

Banned
The undocked performance envelope as baseline should make porting most high-performance current-gen AAA games quite difficult. I don't think many developers will really bother.
 
Considering that Overwatch isn't even on Mac yet (presumably because they saw Metal on the horizon and decided not to bother building the engine to work with OpenGL), where Blizzard has a very well established base, I wouldn't expect movement on this anytime soon.

As far as I'm aware, we also don't have much of an idea how well the Switch will play with third-party account/network/patching infrastructures.
 
The guy who works for blizzard just said performance is an issue. Why would you say it's not?

Because it wouldn't be, and just like many other things developers say, its just excuses to say "we aren't doing it right now." Which is fine.

I have a garbage ass laptop from 2012 that can run Overwatch just fine, performance would not be an issue.
 
Maybe undocked performance could be a factor if they want somewhat visual parity between consoles. Unless they'd do docked only, but then what's the point in porting the game to the Switch? Inferior docked-only version would make no sense.
 
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