Pete Hines recently spoke to DualShockers about Bethesda games on Switch and the future of games on Nintendo’s platform. As DualShockers notes, Bethesda is on the cusp of releasing its third title on Switch; Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus.
Wolfenstein joins Skyrim and DOOM as Bethesda games available on Nintendo’s platform which are the first of Bethesda’s titles to be released on a Nintendo console.
Nintendo and Bethesda’s new-found relationship obviously comes from the phenomenal success of the Switch, though Hines is clear that pushing everything onto Switch is not a focus for Bethesda.
Bethesda Games on Switch
Hines stressed that bringing games to Switch is dependant on the game, the audience and the tech. “It’ll depend on whether or not we think the game is a good fit for the platform technically and whether we think it’s something that audience wants on Switch,” he said.
The Switch doesn’t get any special treatment from Bethesda, Hines said, claiming that Nintendo’s console is viewed that same as PC, PS4 and Xbox One. “It’s literally no different than any other platform that we look at or any other game that we do.”
In the case of future Bethesda titles coming to Switch, Hines is hopeful that they’ll be released but it depends on how well they’ll fit. “If there’s stuff that folks want us to release on Switch and it’s a good fit and it works – great.
“If it’s new stuff going forward that we think is a good fit and will work on Switch, then we’ll do that too.”
No Special Treatment
DualShockers asked Hines if Bethesda had considered developing a standalone, exclusive title for Switch like Ubisoft’s Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle.
Hines was non-committal, but not evasive. It sounds like it’s really not something that Bethesda has considered, but are open to. “I don’t know, we’ll have to see. All of that stuff always comes down to the devs’ idea and what we think is a good fit idea wise and platform wise.”
Regarding the delays between game releases on other platforms and the Switch, Hines said that Bethesda would prefer to release all versions at the same time, but sometimes it’s not possible.
He also made it clear that Bethesda would never delay a release solely for one platforms version.
That’s always our preference but in the case of Skyrim and DOOM, well, that wasn’t possible.
In the case of Wolfenstein II, we needed the extra time and there was no way we were going to hold the other platforms to wait for Switch.
From my perspective, any time we can bring it out on the Switch at the exact same time as the other platforms for new releases, I don’t know why we wouldn’t.
From Hines’ comments, it’s clear that Bethesda is going to be supportive of the Switch going forward. Whether or not we’ll see all of Bethesda’s titles on Switch moving forward seems unlikely, but we can be sure that when the games work, they’ll be released.
