At E3 2019, Nintendo announced that CD Projekt Red’s acclaimed action-RPG The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is coming to the Switch this year.
This confirms leaks from last month that pointed to a 2019 release of The Witcher 3 on Switch.
A specific release date was not revealed, although Nintendo confirmed it would be the Complete Edition of the game that includes the main The Witcher 3 experience, plus its two meaty DLC expansions, Hearts of Stone and Blood and Wine.
The original story follows below:
Polish developer CD Projekt Red’s beloved action-RPG The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt may be coming to the Nintendo Switch.
Currently, Chinese social media site Weibo is filling up with images of listings at various Asian retailers pointing to a Switch version of The Witcher 3. Some of the screenshots even feature box art.
According to these listings, The Witcher 3 is set to debut on the Switch in September. Chinese localization for the game is reportedly underway as well.
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt released in May 2015 on PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC to massive critical acclaim, selling millions of copies and going on to win numerous Game of the Year awards. Two major expansions, Hearts of Stone and Blood and Wine, released to similarly high positive reception in October 2015 and May 2016, respectively.
As it stands, it’s unclear if this purported Switch version will be the vanilla game or the ‘Complete Edition’ which includes the base Witcher 3 experience plus its two expansions.
Given that these are unvalidated listings from foreign retailers, it’s important to take this with a grain of salt. It’s also unclear if the Switch — which is technically inferior to its PlayStation 4 and Xbox One rivals — would even be able to run a game as massive and detailed as The Witcher 3.
That said, fans have already thought of a few ways that these hurdles may be overcome.
To start, there have been reports for several months that Nintendo is working on a more powerful Switch model. While Nintendo has remained quiet on any potential Switch iterations, previous reports indicated that a release could come in the latter half of the year. Without knowing potential specs, a beefier Switch could, in theory, run The Witcher 3.
There’s also the possibility that The Witcher 3 may be streamed to the Switch. In Japan, Nintendo has partnered with Taiwanese cloud tech company Ubitus’ to stream select games to the Switch.
So far, the companies have brought Capcom’s Resident Evil 7: Biohazard and Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed Odyssey to the system. One of the benefits of streaming is the fact that developers can run games through the cloud that might otherwise be unplayable due to hardware limitations.
Presumably, Nintendo and CD Projekt Red could do the same with The Witcher 3 on Switch, in which case the game would be exclusive to Japan. However, it seems questionable that Chinese retailers would be promoting box art for a game that’s only intended to be accessed through a Japanese digital service.
In any case, it’s possible that Nintendo will officially reveal The Witcher 3 on Switch at the Electronics Entertainment Expo (E3). The company will dedicate a pre-recorded Direct Presentation at E3 to revealing new Switch software on Tuesday, June 11th at 12pm ET.
CD Projekt Red will be at E3, however, to reveal more information on its highly-anticipated Cyberpunk 2077 game.
Meanwhile, fans can expect a TV series adaptation of the Witcher novels on which the games are based to hit Netflix sometime later this year. The series will star Superman actor Henry Cavill as Geralt, the main character of the franchise.
Via: Nintendo Life
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