In November 2017, Bethesda Softworks and port specialists Panic Button performed what seemed like a miracle: They released a Switch port for id Software’s recent reboot of Doom. The game, a famously fast-paced, intense shooter with modern graphics, seemed ill-suited to Nintendo’s handheld and its capabilities, but despite some visual blurriness and a reduction in the frame rate, the game held up well on the hybrid system. In GameSpot’s 8/10 review of the Switch port, Peter Brown praised the game as “an impressive port that begs you to consider gameplay over graphics.”
Doom was the first Switch “impossible port,” a colloquial term that players took to using whenever a third-party game designed for much more powerful hardware arrived on the Switch in pretty good shape. Over the course of the system’s lifespan, it would receive many more so-called impossible ports, including versions of Wolfenstein 2: The New Collossus, Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice, The Witcher 3, No Man’s Sky, and Ace Combat 7–large, visually-intensive, action-heavy games, all of them translated to the system with immaculate care. Seeing how the Switch handled these games was always exciting–even when the ports were less-than-ideal, there was still something special about seeing them run on a handheld from 2017.
But the best port of the first year–and maybe the best example we have of what the system is capable of right now–is Star Wars Outlaws, handled by Ubisoft’s internal RedLynx team. The game, which launched on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S in 2024, arrived on the Switch 2 in good shape and has since been patched and improved to a point where it holds up extremely well against other systems (and absolutely runs circles around the game’s performance on Steam Deck). It may not be a perfect game, but the arrival of the game on Switch 2 in such good shape was very exciting–if the system can do this in its first year, what sort of games can we expect to see ported effectively over the next few years, when developers have a better handle on the hardware?
Assassin’s Creed Shadows has put on a good showing too, although in my time with it the game suffered from several crashes and a particularly blurry presentation in handheld mode; it may be a few patches away from its ideal form yet. Like Star Wars and Cyberpunk before it, the game features cross-progression, meaning I could carry on my PS5 save with minimal fuss–a feature that should, hopefully, continue to incentivize studios to bring their games to Switch 2 alongside other consoles.
It’s likely that more significant ports will be announced in 2026, and we’ll learn more about what the system is capable of through those games. I was able to play a build of Elden Ring in portable mode at PAX Australia this year, and despite earlier reports of poor performance, the version I played ran well and looked fantastic; the game was delayed shortly thereafter, but there’s reason to be optimistic. There are many other games on the way: 007 First Light, Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, Final Fantasy 7 Remake, and other major ports should tell us more about what’s possible on Switch 2. For now, though, it’s fun to speculate and dream about the system’s future “impossible” ports.
