Bonus Issue: Nintendo's Upcoming Switch Successor and Resident Evil
A look at what to expect when it comes to the Resident Evil franchise on Nintendo's next console
Welcome to the first “Bonus Issue” of Complete Global Saturation! Bonus Issues are intended to be lighter and more casual than a standard Vol. article, and thus will be offered for free at irregular intervals. Bonus Issues will focus on current events and to take approach them using speculative angles, while maintaining the same style as a standard Vol. article. As always, any and all reader support is absolutely appreciated.
On July 31, VGC’s Andy Robinson published an article predicting, based on his own private industry sources, that Nintendo is planning to launch its long-awaited Nintendo Switch successor in the latter half of 2024. This would come more than seven years after the current Nintendo Switch, with expectations for the system to fall somewhere, roughly speaking, around the PlayStation 4 in terms of graphical output. The true technological nuance of any console’s graphical capabilities is much more complex and multilayered and beyond the purview of this article (give Digital Foundry a read/watch if you want to know more), but broadly speaking, if Nintendo’s next console does compare well to a PS4, what could it possibly mean for the RE franchise?
A Quick History of Resident Evil on Nintendo
My book, Itchy, Tasty: An Unofficial History of Resident Evil, dedicates an entire chapter to RE’s history on Nintendo platforms prior to 2006, but let’s do a quick recap the series’ history on Nintendo platforms. (You can skip this and the next section if you already know about this.)
RE began in 1996 as a game deemed unsuitable for the Nintendo 64, which launched that same year, due to Nintendo’s decision to employ expensive low-capacity cartridges with their first 3D console. Early RE games, with their CG cutscenes, voice acting and detailed 2D backgrounds, required more storage than N64 cartridges could accommodate, and therefore Capcom was unable to bring the franchise to Nintendo platforms for over three years.
All that changed in late 1999, when Resident Evil 2 was released for the N64. A miraculous port in many ways, RE2 on N64 defied the expectations of both game consumers and developers at large by being a strong port of what was originally a two-CD PS1 game. This was made possible thanks to advances in data compression and a few clever tricks employed by the port’s developer, Angel Studios (now Rockstar San Diego).
Separately, Capcom sought to create an exclusive RE for N64 in order to broaden the series’ appeal beyond PlayStation, so Capcom greenlit Resident Evil 0 for it in 1998. In the late 1990s, Capcom also tried to “demake” the original Resident Evil for the Game Boy Color, but difficulties in executing on the game led to its eventual cancellation. In its place, Capcom released a non-canon game called Resident Evil: Gaiden for the Game Boy Color in late 2001. It wouldn’t be until 2006 when Capcom would be finally release the original RE on a Nintendo handheld, with the release of Resident Evil: Deadly Silence on the Nintendo DS.
The most infamous of eras came with the Nintendo GameCube. In September 2001, Capcom and Nintendo jointly held a press conference, where Capcom announced a whopping six RE games for the platform, three of them exclusively and away from the franchise’s traditional home on PlayStation. A remake of Resident Evil and a revamped Resident Evil 0 were released in 2002 to less-than-expected sales, while 2003 saw simple ports of RE2 (its second appearance on a Nintendo platform), Resident Evil 3: Nemesis and Resident Evil CODE: Veronica X. Capcom saw a decline in RE compared to the PS1 generation, and successfully rebooted the franchise with Resident Evil 4. RE4 was successful on GCN, but Capcom eventually ported it to PS2 and sold more units on that platform.
Nintendo’s next system, the Wii, got its fair share of RE titles, although none of them had anywhere near the importance and prestige of a mainline title like Resident Evil 5. Compared to its counterparts, the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, the Wii was underpowered and eschewed support for HDTV resolutions (like 720p) that exploded beginning in the mid-2000s. To make up for this, Nintendo created the Wii Remote, which brought motion controls to mainstream console gaming for the first time. Wanting RE to appeal to as many people as possible, Capcom was compelled to tailor RE to the Wii’s unique features. In May 2007, they initiated support with Resident Evil 4: Wii Edition, which added well-liked motion controls to the original game. Later that year, Capcom released Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles, a first-person on-rails lightgun-inspired shooter. In November 2009, a sequel called Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles was released. The two Chronicles games featured abridged retellings of RE0 through CV in first-person, along with new content intended to bridge the timeline gap between CV and RE4. In 2008, Capcom ported the RE remake and RE0 to Wii with almost no additions. To date, the Wii version of RE4 is the highest selling RE game on a Nintendo platform.
On the handheld side of things, Nintendo released the Nintendo 3DS in February 2011. Even prior to launch, Capcom committed two RE titles to the 3DS, with Resident Evil: Revelations announced at E3 in June 2010 and Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D in September that year. The latter was eventually released in June 2011, and the former in January 2012. As I discussed in the very first article for Complete Global Saturation, Revelations turned out to be a significant title for the 3DS due to its relatively high quality, although its sales were muted and required console ports to be more successful commercially.
Revelations was eventually ported and released on all home consoles, including the Wii U, in May 2013. Due to extremely lackluster sales, Revelations on Wii U would mark RE’s only appearance on Wii U (unless you choose to count the now-delisted Umbrella Chronicles and RE4 Wii, which were available on the Wii U’s eShop while that service was in operation. These were the Wii releases with no alterations whatsoever.)
Resident Evil on the Nintendo Switch
The current Nintendo Switch was released in 2017. Like the Wii was to its Sony and Microsoft counterparts, the Switch is relatively underpowered next to the PS4 and Xbox One. The Switch received ports of Revelations and Resident Evil: Revelations 2 in November 2017. It next saw ports of the RE remake, RE0 and RE4 in May 2019, and RE5 and Resident Evil 6 in October that same year.
On that note, Does anyone else remember the unusual trailer shown at the Nintendo E3 Direct in 2019 announcing RE5 and RE6? The extensive, horror-focused nature made it look like Capcom was announcing something new… only for the trailer to segue into thematically distant trailers for RE5 and RE6 on Switch. To this day, I wonder if that trailer was originally intended for something else.
Due to the Switch being underpowered compared to PS4 and Xbox One, none of the post-Revelations 2 titles (i.e. anything from Resident Evil 7: Biohazard and onward and powered by the RE Engine) have been ported to Switch… natively, anyway. But Capcom did find a way to bring the content over anyway.
In May 2018, Capcom and Nintendo surprised audiences with a Japan-only cloud-operated port of RE7 that required a temporary 180-day paid subscription to access. I beat the cloud version once in 2018. Honestly, given Japan’s solid internet speeds overall, I didn’t mind RE7 cloud at all as an alternative way to play the game. Switch cloud would never replace my PS4 or PC versions, but if I ever needed a reason to play it and I had no access to another console, the option was there.
Actually, such a situation did arise in January 2022, when I returned to Japan from a trip to the US. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Japan’s border was largely closed to non-resident foreigners, and those who could go in and out were subject to COVID testing at their arrival airport. Those who tested positive were placed into quarantine hotels for periods of six to 11 days. I unfortunately tested positive upon my return to Japan, and although I eventually rode out the infection successfully, I needed to be quarantined for 11 days. I only had my Switch with me during these travels… so I ended up resubscribing to and beating RE7 cloud a second time. As one does when they’re in government quarantine. I’m pleasantly surprised the hotel wi-fi held up so well.
In September 2022, Capcom revealed that all the RE Engine REs up to that point, which included RE7, the remakes of Resident Evil 2 and Resident Evil 3, and Resident Evil Village, would be brought to Switch as cloud editions that could be purchased permanently rather than through a subscription as initially offered with RE7 cloud. They would also be released outside Japan for the first time ever. The four titles were released by December and are still available now. In theory, should Capcom, Nintendo and/or the cloud service operator, Ubitus decide to end the service, then these cloud versions will disappear accordingly. (Just as RE7 and Village’s Google Stadia versions disappeared when Google ended the service in January 2023.)
Resident Evil on Nintendo’s Next Platform?
This brings me to the main crux of this Bonus Issue: is Capcom content with the RE Engine REs remaining on the Nintendo ecosystem solely as cloud releases, or would they want to look into porting them to the next Nintendo console natively? Instead or in addition to ports of old titles, would Capcom want to try developing an exclusive RE for the next Nintendo platform? (For brevity, let’s call it the “Switch 2.”)
Based on precedent, I think RE on Switch 2 is an inevitability. Every Nintendo platform between the N64 and Switch, except for the Game Boy Advance, has received at least one RE game; every Nintendo platform with an RE has received multiple titles, with the Wii U being the sole exception with only one. All Nintendo platforms, except the N64, received at least one RE game within 14 months of their initial launch.
Should that precedent continue, the chances are good that at least one of the RE Engine REs makes it way to Switch 2 within a year or so of launch. What could this first title be? My personal bet is on the 2023 remake of Resident Evil 4. It’s likely 2024 will see some form of DLC for the RE4 remake, and a belated Switch 2 release that same year could keep the game fresh and interesting for Switch 2 early adopters eager to play the game on a handheld (on something besides the Steam Deck, anyway).
RE7, Village, RE2 remake and RE3 remake would ideally follow afterwards. I suppose what comes next would depend on whatever new RE is next in the pipeline. If it’s Resident Evil 9, then I can see Capcom going with RE7 and Village as lead ups. If it’s a remake of RE5, RE or CODE: Veronica, then perhaps Switch 2 versions of RE2 remake and RE3 remake would release around then. The order doesn’t matter much in the end, so long as they all eventually make it over, but I anticipate the five mainline RE Engine REs as of 2023 to make their way to Switch 2 at some point within the first 24 months of launch.
Unlike the Switch era, which focused on bundled physical releases like Resident Evil Origins Collection and Resident Evil Triple Pack, I think the RE Engine REs are still new enough to release standalone, and capacity permitting, physical Switch 2 cartridges that VGC alluded to in their article above. However, given Capcom’s growing penchant for selling games digitally, I can easily see Capcom eschewing physical releases for some of the RE Engine REs (particularly RE3) in favor of digital-only releases.
I don’t foresee either Resident Evil Resistance nor Resident Evil RE:verse making it over to Switch 2 as those online communities will have long moved on. (They have’t been ported to PS5 or Xbox Series X|S, for that matter.)
What about a new title, such as RE9 or the next remake? I think, personally, that the odds are more favorable than they were for the original Switch, but not quite guaranteed, either. If powerful enough, the Switch 2 could very well receive credible ports of RE9 and the next RE remake day and date with the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S versions. It’ll be interesting in particular to see how the Switch 2 will compare to the Series S and Steam Deck in terms of technical capability. Perhaps some devs, including Capcom, are able to take what they create for Series S or Steam Deck (or PS4, if they decide to continue supporting it) and make complete Switch 2 releases without going through the trouble of a full redevelopment cycle.
If Capcom deems Switch 2 simply not powerful enough for the next slate of REs, then I find it likely Capcom goes with cloud versions again.
Finally, what about a Switch 2-exclusive RE, similar to the original Revelations or the Chronicles titles? I find this option to be the least likely at this point. With few exceptions, Capcom is now largely a platform agnostic publisher that supports every console it can, so long as the business case makes sense. There are rare exceptions, such as Monster Hunter Rise's year-long exclusivity to Switch, but even then they were transparent with the existence of the Steam version before the Switch launch. It would be neat to see a theoretical Resident Evil: Revelations 3 that features new and existing characters in new plot lines, but I no longer see much benefit for Nintendo having exclusivity to a non-numbered RE, unless Nintendo outright paid for its promotion.
Are you excited about the Switch 2? Would you like to see RE games come to the platform? Feel free to leave a comment below!