Latest Switch 2 Cancellation Has Me Extremely Worried

The Nintendo Switch 2 has proven to be an immensely successful console despite its endless cavalcade of controversies and missed opportunities. Early adopters have been left with a rather lacking launch line-up, and even those opting to buy it months later are coming to the swift realization that little differentiates it from its predecessor, at least visually and functionally. However, one could always rest assured that the increased power meant that a flurry of third-party titles would eventually start releasing for it, bolstering its library of software and giving people a reason to finally care.

Unfortunately, to add insult to injury and pile on the already growing laundry lists of issues with the Switch 2, a high-profile, AAA third-party release that was scheduled to be one of the first truly brand-new ports for the console, has been more or less cancelled. Borderlands 4, in all its AAA glory, has been put on pause by its publisher, Take-Two Interactive, leaving Switch 2 owners twiddling their thumbs as they wait for the next big title. However, I strongly believe this indicates a far greater problem for Switch 2 owners than merely a lack of a fun new game. Indeed, I think it could spell disaster for the console’s future.

Borderlands 4’s Switch 2 Port Has Been Paused

The Nintendo Switch 2 version of Borderlands 4 has been cancelled. The official statement from Take-Two is that it has been “paused“, with the publisher electing to focus on other content for the platform. This vague, indefinite delay, that, lest we forget, comes after a last-minute delay late last year, feels like the publisher throwing in the towel. After all, Borderlands 4 already struggles on other platforms, and the Switch 2 version was already seemingly so severely compromised, as it was missing split-screen multiplayer and targeting around 30 FPS at most.

Naturally, this is a significant blow to Switch 2 users, myself included, who were looking forward to not just a brand-new AAA game on their handy handheld, but also the opportunity to play Borderlands 4 on the go natively. Looking at the console’s lineup for the coming months, there’s very little in the way of huge, AAA experiences to get excited for. While Nintendo’s offerings certainly look unique and will appeal to a certain subset of players, there’s nothing among the likes of Tomodachi Life and Pokopia that screams AAA, big-budget, and worth 70 dollars.

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Borderlands 4 was, for many people, something that would finally showcase how, while not capable of directly competing technically with its competition, the Switch 2 could hold its own in this generation. Now, as it is likely gone forever, we have to wait for Capcom to come along and save the console with Pragmata, Monster Hunter Stories 3, and Resident Evil 9. Yet, as aforementioned, I believe that the cancellation of Borderlands 4 on Switch 2 goes far beyond the Switch 2’s disappointing line-up, and exposes the console’s core weakness we all suspected would be an issue.

Future Games May Have To Skip Switch 2

If Take-Two Interactive and Gearbox Software cannot get Borderlands 4 to run on Nintendo’s new hardware with their bountiful resources, then I worry rather a lot about how other studios will fare with their future titles. We’re not even a year into the Nintendo Switch 2’s lifespan, and already, games are being cancelled for it, presumably due to huge technical issues. Even if Borderlands 4 managed to release for the Switch 2, it would have been a seriously compromised port.

We’re also seeing this issue pop up with games like Monster Hunter Stories 3 and Pragmata, both of which recently received demos on the handheld. While Pragmata runs smoothly, its clear texture resolution and overall quality have taken quite the hit for it to squeeze everything onto the hardware. Monster Hunter Stories 3 runs poorly while in the game’s main city hub area, and there’s a dreadful amount of pop-in, which naturally ruins immersion. Of course, both of these are merely demos, and their full releases are subject to change. However, with MHS3 releasing in March and Pragmata in April, there’s not much Capcom can do in such a short amount of time unless it delays both games to improve performance.

Everyone knew the Switch 2 versions of games would be compromised in some fashion, but there was an understanding that we’d at least get new games on the platform. Of course, we likely still will, with Microsoft committing to putting Call of Duty on the Switch eventually, and many other studios having already announced ports. We have also had successful ports of Assassin’s Creed: Shadows, Split Fiction, and Star Wars Outlaws, to name a few, come out in the past few months. However, how long will this last if games released in 2025 are already struggling to run on the Switch 2?

The Nintendo Switch 2 Will Quickly Become Obsolete

With how technically demanding games are becoming, the Switch 2’s already outdated hardware will become too inefficient to run new games well. That’s not to say that the Switch 2 won’t be able to run newer games at all. Rather, I think we’re in for another however many years of significantly worse ports, just like in the last generation. We should all expect our Switch 2 ports of upcoming titles across the next few years to look as good as Switch versions of The Witcher 3, Kingdom Come: Deliverance, Ark Survival Evolved, and all the other aptly named “miracle ports”. That’s to say, they’ll be blurry, laggy, and pared-back versions on a console that’s far too overpriced for what it is offering.

The Switch 2 is meant to be a far more impressive piece of tech than its predecessor, and, of course, in many ways it is. However, I can’t help but feel as if Nintendo settled a little with its new handheld, delivering specs that will allow it to keep pace for a year or two, albeit very much out of breath, before faltering behind significantly, picking up everyone’s scraps until, eventually, it is outclassed at its own game completely. With PlayStation and Xbox handhelds on the horizon, Nintendo’s once iron-clad grip on this once niche market will loosen, and the Switch 2 will feel utterly ineffectual.

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Of course, this is all purely speculative. There’s a world in which technical innovation stagnates enough for the Switch 2 to remain competitive, where game key cards are utilized more, where streaming becomes king and native versions cease to matter. However, if the gaming industry continues at the pace it is right now, the Switch 2 will quickly become irrelevant and a pointless piece of tech, beyond its first-party offerings. After all, third-party developers may not feel it is financially viable to create ports for antiquated hardware.

We’ve seen this with the Xbox Series S causing delays and cancellations of third-party games on Xbox due to its weaker specs, and that’s a console comparatively more powerful than the Switch 2. Perhaps Nintendo will release a New Switch 2 at some point to run more intensive games, or maybe it’ll skip generations quicker than we’re expecting. It all remains to be seen, of course, but I’d absolutely be willing to put money on the Switch 2 promptly beginning to resemble its predecessor more and more until we all collectively wonder why we bought one in the first place.

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