After seeing Mario Kart World and trailers for the upcoming Donkey Kong Bananza, it's evident that Switch 2 appears to have some digital horsepower under the hood. But how powerful is it really?
Ahead of its release, there were frequent rumours that its performance would be close to that of the PlayStation 4, but several developers (not least Koei Tecmo) have said that it is closer to the Xbox Series S, and thus belongs to this new generation even performance wise. Now another developer has weighed in on the matter, and they too seem to believe that Switch 2 is more powerful than some might have thought.
Virtuos, a Singapore-based support studio that primarily assists other developers and has been involved in countless major projects - most recently The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered and next month's Metal Gear Solid Δ: Snake Eater, which they also helped develop - shared their views on the matter in an interview with Wccftech. Director of business development Eoin O'Grady comments:
"GPU-wise, the Switch 2 performs slightly below the Series S; this difference is more noticeable in handheld mode. However, the Series S does not support technologies like DLSS, which the Switch 2 does. This makes the GPU capabilities of the two consoles comparable overall."
When it comes to the CPU, however, the picture is a little different, and he concludes:
"CPU-wise, there is a clearer distinction between the two consoles. The Switch 2 is closer to the PlayStation (PS) 4 in this respect, having a CPU just a bit more powerful than the PS4's. Since most games tend to be more GPU-bound than CPU-bound when well optimized, the impact of this difference largely depends on the specific game and its target frame rate.
"Any game shipping at 60 FPS on the Series S should easily port to the Switch 2. Likewise, a 30 FPS Series S game that's GPU-bound should also port well. Games with complex physics, animations, or other CPU-intensive elements might incur additional challenges in reaching 30 or 60 FPS or require extra optimization during porting."
He believes this makes the device a nice complement to the Steam Deck in terms of the growing portable market, and he thinks it's a great way to bring big games with you on the go:
"The original Switch, along with the Steam Deck and other high-quality handheld gaming rigs, has contributed to growth in this area. Gamers increasingly want AAA games on the go, and so I think we will see the Switch 2 surpass its predecessor."
Do you share his view on the potential of Switch 2?