Overwatch Switch Port Developed in “A Little Over A Year” – Blizzard

Blizzard Entertainment’s Overwatch is coming to the Nintendo Switch later this month. The announcement was meant to be a big surprise at Nintendo’s last Direct presentation but was spoiled due to a retailer leak. Nevertheless, given how Blizzard talked about doing a “performance revisit” to have the game running on Switch in 2017, it’s intriguing to hear that Iron Galaxy Studios started development “a little over a year ago.”

Blizzard principal game producer Wes Yanagi spoke to Vooks about working with Iron Galaxy, noting that the process “has been awesome”. “Their team is very experienced working on the Nintendo Switch, and they taught us a lot about developing on the platform,” he said. “It was also nice to have a fresh perspective on the codebase, which led to collaborative discussions on ways to better optimize the game.”

Of course, some parts of Blizzard also had to work with on the Switch port to incorporate it within the infrastructure. “Work on the Switch version of Overwatch started a little over a year ago. There is a bit of complexity trying to catch up to a constantly evolving game. But getting Overwatch running is just the tip of the iceberg. Adding a new platform also means making sure it works within the entire Blizzard infrastructure. Many developers in all parts of the company, especially Battle.net, had a hand in bringing the Switch version to life.”

Overwatch released in May 2016 for PS4, Xbox One, and PC, and has been performing strongly ever since. It continues to receive new heroes, maps and features for free along with establishing a successful esports league. Overwatch is out on October 15th for the Switch, but there may be more news on the franchise at BlizzCon 2019. Rumours point to the announcement of a sequel with PvE elements. Stay tuned for more details in the meantime.