Nintendo Switch Team Says the AAA Development Window Is ‘Shrinking’

Nintendo Switch ports of popular AAA games have been up and down in quality over the past year. For each Doom and Skyrim we've gotten, we also had to endure lackluster ports of games like WWE 2K18.

But that doesn't mean developers aren't getting a hang of the hardware. In fact, one of the best out there, Panic Button, believes that the development window between the two platforms is "shrinking" when it comes to AAA games.

Speaking with MCV, Panic Button general manager and co-founder Adam Creighton talked about how more developers are getting a hang of the Switch and making it possible to run top-notch games, even if the hardware isn't as powerful as Xbox One or PlayStation 4. "If you look at DOOM which was finished and shipped to people when development started for the Nintendo Switch version, and that game comes out sixteen months later for Switch. then you see Wolfenstein II, where we get involved as the game is in development and almost done, this game comes out less than eight months after releasing. I see that window shrinking all the time for those publishers and developers who are planning on Switch at the outset," he noted.

And that means more developers will take the system seriously. "I think what's interesting is that it has to be a prioritization for the publisher and developer," he noted. "For me I want these companies to look at the Nintendo Switch as an equal platform that they release on as they release their game and the earlier they get either internal teams or external outfits like Panic Button involved, the higher the chance we're going to get day and date parity for big releases."

We did see more third-party game announcements from Nintendo's Direct during E3, with games like Fortnite, Dragon Ball FighterZ and more confirmed for the platform.

Panic Button's keeping busy enough on the platform, between finishing up development on Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus in time for its release this month and working on a mystery port of a AAA title that it'll be announcing very soon. Hopefully others will follow their lead and see the value of what Nintendo Switch has to offer.