Why Overwatch isn't on the Nintendo Switch?

[IsaacThePooper]

Doom is coming out on the Switch and it's more graphically intensive than Overwatch, so why isn't Overwatch on the Switch yet?

 

Do you think it'll happen?

[rip]

Doom is a single player game

OW is a multiplayer competetive game, switch would lose 

[Mira Yurizaki]

Because you'd need an internet connection, which is kind of hard to do when you're taking advantage of one of the Switch's major selling points.

[ARikozuM]

The Switch is a mobile device. Imagine how many cry-babies will blast Nintendo and Blizzard when they can't play a game they paid for on-the-go due to their ignorance on how Wi-Fi works. 

[D13H4RD]

Overwatch is a multiplayer-only battle arena/FPS hybrid. As the name suggests, a good internet connection is critical.

 

Sure, you could play on the Switch, but the Switch was made to be an on-the-go console that can also "switch" into a home console when docked. Overwatch just doesn't make sense for a machine like it.

[PlayStation 2]

Because it wouldn't work out well on the Switch?

Same reason something like Team Fortress 2 wouldn't work well on the Switch.

[Zodiark1593]

3 minutes ago, Dan Castellaneta said:

Because it wouldn't work out well on the Switch?

Same reason something like Team Fortress 2 wouldn't work well on the Switch.

Well, TF2 has offline bots if I recall correctly. Any such thing for Overwatch?

[PlayStation 2]

Just now, Zodiark1593 said:

Well, TF2 has offline bots if I recall correctly. Any such thing for Overwatch?

TF2 does have offline bots, but frankly, they only work properly on like three maps. Any newer maps, they basically fail to properly work.

I don't believe OW has bot support.

[Zodiark1593]

4 minutes ago, Dan Castellaneta said:

TF2 does have offline bots, but frankly, they only work properly on like three maps. Any newer maps, they basically fail to properly work.

I don't believe OW has bot support.

Yeah, the bots have the intellectual capacity of a potato too if I remember.

[PlayStation 2]

Just now, Zodiark1593 said:

Yeah, the bots have the intellectual capacity of a potato too if I remember.

Your memory never waned from it, then.

[Mira Yurizaki]

I suppose one could ask "then how come Splatoon 2 is a thing?"

 

Because Splatoon 2 has decent enough single player content.

[Zodiark1593]

Just now, Dan Castellaneta said:

Your memory never waned from it, then.

I hadn't played the game in years, since it went free to play. I bought the game about a month before that occurred too.

 

[PlayStation 2]

1 minute ago, Zodiark1593 said:

I hadn't played the game in years, since it went free to play. I bought the game about a month before that occurred too.

 

Meh, at least you can trade (and play competitive mode) without the game being bitchy and needing you to spend money. And you got a free untradable hat! A shitty one at that, but hey, at least it's exclusive to those who bought the game.

I started playing the game not long after an update in February 2014 dropped so meh.

[skywake]

12 hours ago, M.Yurizaki said:

I suppose one could ask "then how come Splatoon 2 is a thing?"

 

Because Splatoon 2 has decent enough single player content.

Well I'm going to ask it anyway. If Overwatch is such a bad idea for Switch because it's "online only" then why does Splatoon 2 work so well? Or Arms, Mario Kart and Rocket League? I mean you might want to argue that those games have offline modes but lets be realistic here. Pretty much everyone playing those games is going online. I don't think Overwatch would have any issues on the Switch. It's not on there purely because Blizzard doesn't think it'd be worth the effort. It's not a platform, audience or horsepower issue. It'd just be another platform for Blizzard to support at a point where most people who wanted to play the game already have it.

 

With that said, I have Overwatch on my PC and have had since launch. If it released on Switch I would happily buy it again.

[IsaacThePooper]

What? There is internet in the world you know, and the console is also a home console as well.

[IsaacThePooper]

Splatoon 2 is mostly multiplayer based, I often just use a hotspot on my phone to play Splatoon 2.

 

[Mira Yurizaki]

6 hours ago, skywake said:

Well I'm going to ask it anyway. If Overwatch is such a bad idea for Switch because it's "online only" then why does Splatoon 2 work so well? Or Arms, Mario Kart and Rocket League? I mean you might want to argue that those games have offline modes but lets be realistic here. Pretty much everyone playing those games is going online. I don't think Overwatch would have any issues on the Switch. It's not on there purely because Blizzard doesn't think it'd be worth the effort. It's not a platform, audience or horsepower issue. It'd just be another platform for Blizzard to support at a point where most people who wanted to play the game already have it.

 

With that said, I have Overwatch on my PC and have had since launch. If it released on Switch I would happily buy it again.

Well besides the barrier that it is online only, there's the issue of needing to support yet another online console infrastructure and I don't believe any of the platforms allow for cross platform play. There's probably a few other things that Nintendo's system doesn't allow for too that Blizzard would want.

 

Also chances are, even if you had Splatoon 2 or Arms, you probably have another game you want to play offline.

[skywake]

On 08/10/2017 at 11:41 PM, M.Yurizaki said:

1. Well besides the barrier that it is online only, there's the issue of needing to support yet another online console infrastructure

2. I don't believe any of the platforms allow for cross platform play

3. There's probably a few other things that Nintendo's system doesn't allow for too that Blizzard would want.

 

4. Also chances are, even if you had Splatoon 2 or Arms, you probably have another game you want to play offline.

1. This is probably the only major reason why it's not happening. Not so much because it's hard to be on multiple platforms but more because Blizzard likes to push out regular updates. If they were to add yet another platform to the mix that's potentially another bottleneck for the release of a new update. Assuming they want to release content updates across all platforms all at once.

 

2. Well if anyone's not playing ball in that regard it's Sony, case and point Rocket League. And in any case you wouldn't want PC gamers to be going up against console gamers in Overwatch. So I'm not sure how big a deal this would be. At most the Switch joining the equation would be the only way that cross-platform play would be possible.

 

3. It's not 2006 anymore, I'm not sure what the Switch is really missing at this stage in terms of online. Sure their voice chat is clunky but beyond that what else is needed?

 

4. I'm not sure what your point is here. The same would surely be true if you had Overwatch in your cartridge slot. 

[Mira Yurizaki]

2 hours ago, skywake said:

2. Well if anyone's not playing ball in that regard it's Sony, case and point Rocket League. And in any case you wouldn't want PC gamers to be going up against console gamers in Overwatch. So I'm not sure how big a deal this would be. At most the Switch joining the equation would be the only way that cross-platform play would be possible.

And just because Minecraft is going to be XB1, PC, and Switch cross-playable doesn't mean Nintendo actually opened up any gates.

2 hours ago, skywake said:

3. It's not 2006 anymore, I'm not sure what the Switch is really missing at this stage in terms of online. Sure their voice chat is clunky but beyond that what else is needed?

It could be something more than hardware features like that. But I don't know, I don't develop for Blizzard or for the Switch.

[skywake]

22 hours ago, M.Yurizaki said:

And just because Minecraft is going to be XB1, PC, and Switch cross-playable doesn't mean Nintendo actually opened up any gates

I'm pretty sure that Overwatch isn't cross-platform play because of a decision that Blizzard themselves made. The only point I was making is that if anything Nintendo are one of the more open platforms in this regard. To put it simply, these are the kinds of cross-platform play that exists:

 

Switch <-> PC

Switch <-> 3DS

Switch <-> XBOne

XBOne <-> PC

PS4 <-> Vita

PS4 <-> PS3

PS4 <-> PC

Where's the game where PS4 players can play against XBOne or Switch gamers? If we are going to whine about someone not playing ball with cross-platform play we should direct it towards Sony. They're the ones not playing ball here

[LanceAvion]

The world's most popular video game shooter isn't on Nintendo's new console — the game's director explains why.

[Kawaii Koneko]

I really don't think the internet connection would be that big of an issue. With so many people having LTE now, you could just tether it to your phone. LTE is quite sufficient for online gaming. When I used to travel a lot, I would tether my consoles to my phone and game online without any issue. At least on Verizon LTE, the ping is pretty low. Now, tethering on a 3g connection is another matter lol.

[JJ smith]

I'm not surprised that Nintendo doesn't have OW. I just don't feel FPS games are for the Switch