Kart

On June 5, the Nintendo Switch 2 will finally grace us with its presence. Nintendo is rolling out the big guns for the big day too, as it will launch the system with Mario Kart World. The racing game is all but assured to be a hit, giving the console a Breath of the Wild-like water cooler game that everyone will be playing at the same time. A lot is riding on that one game, as it has the burden of being the Switch 2’s all-important killer app. If it fails to move millions of units in its first month, Nintendo might have to rethink its whole strategy for its new generation. While those are some high stakes, they’re ones that Mario Kart World will realistically clear without issue.

With that in mind, there’s another Switch 2 launch game coming on June 5 that’s just as important, if not more so, from my perspective. That would be Cyberpunk 2077: Ultimate Edition. While it won’t be crucial to Nintendo’s bottom line, it’s the first real test of the hardware, which looks to make a name for itself in a much more crowded portable landscape than the one the original Switch launched in.

Cyberpunk 2077: Ultimate Edition is essentially a “game of the year” version for the 2020 game, one that played an instrumental tole in the PS5 and Xbox Series X’s launch that same year. It doesn’t just contain the base game and its critically beloved Phantom Liberty DLC, but it also adds some mouse and motion control support built to take advantage of the newly redesigned Joy-cons. It is a key benchmark game for a device like the Nintendo Switch 2 in every conceivable way.

First, there’s the new control features. Ever since the Wii era, Nintendo has struggled to get third-party developers to embrace its wackiest ideas. Games like Red Steel gave the Wiimote the old college try in that era, but it was ultimately up to Nintendo to support motion controls. The Switch faced similar challenges, as few third-party studios played around with the Joy-cons’ IR sensors during the console’s eight year lifespan. CD Projekt Red is going all out for Cyberpunk 2077 and that makes it a perfect guinea pig. Will those features excite players enough to convince others to follow suit? Or will they quickly reveal the controls to be another gimmick that’s best left to Nintendo? Considering that Mario Kart World has fairly straightforward controls, this will be the launch day game to prove Nintendo’s sales pitch.

That’s a small test compared to the much bigger one Nintendo faces here. Cyberpunk 2077 is a very technically demanding game. It famously launched in a disaster state on PS4 and Xbox One in 2020, killing its reputation for years before CD Projekt Red could retake the narrative. It has since accomplished just that with regular updates that have stabilized the sprawling RPG and made it easier to appreciate the density of detail in it. It runs great on PC and current-gen consoles, but the Switch 2 is a big test. How well it runs there is going to give us our first taste of how capable the hardware is. We already know that CD Projekt Red is making some concessions to make it work, as its expected to run at about 40 frames per second even in performance mode, but that doesn’t mean it won’t be able to impress. This is the game that feels like it’ll show off features like the 4K dock and VRR-supporting display the most.

That’s crucial for Nintendo even if this isn’t it’s own game. Were the Switch 2 the only portable device of its kind, it would have a lot of flexibility. Getting Cyberpunk 2077 to run at all would feel like a miracle, even at 30fps. Of course, the elephant hanging around launch day is that it isn’t the only handheld console out there. Devices like the Steam Deck and ROG Ally now exist and are capable of running high-end PC games. I’ve played Cyberpunk 2077 on my Steam Deck plenty of times. It struggled to hit a consistent framerate, but I could get it to a playable state with enough system-level tweaking.

CD

For Nintendo, it won’t be enough to prove that big games can run on its hardware; it has to prove that they run better on Switch 2 than its competitors. Being able to output Cyberpunk 2077 to a TV in 4K without buying a third-party dock already gives the console a leg up, as does its unique controls, but it will need to pass some basic performance tests to convince gaming audiences who don’t care as much about Nintendo’s first party output that the Switch 2 is a viable alternative to something like the Steam Deck. If it can’t, it’s going to reinforce the idea that Nintendo’s system still isn’t a welcoming home base for hardcore players.

The good news is that Cyberpunk 2077 on Switch 2 doesn’t seem like it will disappoint. When I demoed it in April, I was astounded that it ran so well on the hardware while retaining such a high density of detail. It held up significantly better than Split Fiction, which suffers from very compressed visuals. I only experienced Cyberpunk on a big TV screen too. I imagine it will look far superior on a small screen where any flaws will be less noticeable. If the final version can stick the landing, Nintendo will have the kind of launch game that gets YouTube populated with impressive comparison videos that will sell the system to those who are on the fence about picking one up instead of a portable PC. That’s the exact win Nintendo needs on day one. Its future may just be in Projekt CD Red’s hands now.

The Nintendo Switch 2 and Cyberpunk 2077: Ultimate Edition launch on June 5.

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