Third Party Games We’d Love to See Come to the Switch 2

After so many years spent waiting for any shred of news regarding the Switch 2 and the colossal reveal that came about in the April Nintendo Direct showcase, it's almost hard to believe that the Switch 2 launch is mere days away. Looking back at the history of Nintendo hardware launch titles, it's already readily apparent that the Switch 2 has some of the strongest third-party support of any Nintendo console, due in large part to the Switch's absolutely massive install base of over 150 million players. Nintendo expects to sell plenty of Switch 2 units in 2025, which its lineup of third-party software will certainly help support. Still, there are several games that, according to the recently revealed specs of the unit, could run well on the Switch 2 that we'd like to see third-party developers port over.

• Release Date — April 22, 2025
• Developer — Bethesda Game Studios, Virtuous
• Publisher — Bethesda Softworks
• Genre — RPG
• Review Aggregate Score — 83% (Generally Favorable)

A more recent release that seems perfectly suited to eventually arrive on the Switch 2 is Oblivion Remastered. Looking back at the pre-release hype for the original Nintendo Switch, one of the console's flagship third-party titles was The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, which, at the time, was unreal to see running on a handheld. Of course, in the wake of the handheld PC boom, the Switch 2 has some stiffer competition when it comes to high-end handhelds, and having Oblivion Remastered come to the platform and run better than it does currently on the Steam Deck or ROG Ally would be a major leg up for Nintendo.

• Release Date — November 15, 2019 (Fallen Order); April 28, 2023 (Survivor)
• Developer — Respawn Entertainment
• Publisher — Electronic Arts
• Genre — Action-Adventure, Soulslike
• Review Aggregate Score — 79% (Generally Favorable) - Fallen Order; 85% (Generally Favorable) - Survivor

With Star Wars Outlaws confirmed as a Switch 2 title launching later in the year, it would make perfect sense for Electronic Arts to bring over both of the previously released Star Wars Jedi titles to the platform. Both Fallen Order and Survivor are excellent games that mix Uncharted-style platforming and exploration with Sekiro-lite combat, and they're old enough now at this point that they should run flawlessly on the Switch 2 hardware. Plus, with any luck, the planned third and final game in Respawn's Star Wars Jedi trilogy will launch day one on the Switch 2.

• Release Date — August 24, 2023
• Developer — FromSoftware
• Publisher — Bandai Namco
• Genre — Action
• Review Aggregate Score — 86% (Generally Favorable)

FromSoftware is already confirmed to be a major supporter of the Switch 2, as evidenced by the company putting enough faith in the platform to release a brand-new, Switch 2-exclusive title in The Duskbloods. Elden Ring is also coming to the Switch 2 sometime during its launch window, so it would make perfect sense for FromSoftware to continue bringing over more of its back catalog to Nintendo's new handheld to appease fans for whom the Switch 2 will be their main platform. But while the Dark Souls games are practically a given (especially with the success of Dark Souls Remastered on the Switch), what we'd rather see is a handheld version of Armored Core VI with some additional content for its Switch 2 launch.

• Release Date — December 5, 2019
• Developer — Rockstar Games
• Publisher — Rockstar Games
• Genre — Action, Open-World
• Review Aggregate Score — 97% (Universal Acclaim)

Rockstar's support of the original Switch was somewhat limited by the console's technical specs, but the power of the Switch 2 is such that the company likely won't hold back from releasing games for it. One of the top contenders to get a Switch 2 port is the critically acclaimed and award-winning Red Dead Redemption 2, which already runs great on handheld PCs. The first Red Dead Redemption proved to be a perfect fit for the Nintendo Switch in its more recent "remaster", and the Switch 2 could follow suit with the sequel and give Nintendo fans their first chance to play this incredible, one-of-a-kind game.

• Release Date — October 8, 2024
• Developer — Bloober Team
• Publisher — Konami
• Genre — Survival Horror
• Review Aggregate Score — 86% (Generally Favorable)

Both one of the best remakes of a classic game and one of the best modern survival horror games, Silent Hill 2 absolutely knocked it out of the park when it came to reimagining the beloved original. The Silent Hill series is also conspicuously absent from Nintendo hardware, though, and the Switch 2 has a chance to correct this misstep with a port of the Silent Hill 2 remake as a starting point. Bloober Team is supposedly going to be tackling another remake of one of the Silent Hill series' past titles (fingers crossed for the first game), and releasing the Silent Hill 2 remake on Switch 2 would make it that much more likely that its next project in the series makes its way to the console.

• Release Date — March 23, 2023
• Developer — Capcom
• Publisher — Capcom
• Genre — Action, Survival Horror
• Review Aggregate Score — 93% (Universal Acclaim)

Speaking of incredible remakes of beloved survival horror games, the Resident Evil 4 remake managed to do the impossible: make the already commonly accepted best game in the series even better. The original Switch has cloud versions available for the remakes of Resident Evil 2 and 3 (as well as Resident Evil 7 and 8), but it never did get one for Resident Evil 4. The Switch 2 is perhaps the perfect platform for all of Capcom's modern Resident Evil games to exist under one umbrella, and Resident Evil 4 should take top priority as far as which game the studio ports to the console first.

• Release Date — February 29, 2024
• Developer — Square Enix
• Publisher — Square Enix
• Genre — JRPG
• Review Aggregate Score — 92% (Universal Acclaim)

The Resident Evil remakes making their way to the Switch 2 is practically all but guaranteed, and another third-party title that seems geared to have a Switch 2 version sooner rather than later is Final Fantasy VII Rebirth. The first game in the Final Fantasy VII remake trilogy — the aptly named Final Fantasy VII Remake — is a launch title for the Switch 2, and the game's director, Naoki Hamaguchi, has all but confirmed that the second and third games in the trilogy will come to the Switch 2 as well. Hopefully Switch 2 owners won't need to wait nearly as long between Remake and Rebirth as the rest of us did.

• Release Date — September 17, 2013
• Developer — Rockstar North
• Publisher — Rockstar Games
• Genre — Action, Open-World
• Review Aggregate Score — 97% (Universal Acclaim)

Aside from Red Dead Redemption 2, one of the most likely games from Rockstar to get a highly-requested Switch 2 port is Grand Theft Auto V. Despite being 12 years old at this point, Grand Theft Auto V (and its GTA Online multiplayer mode) continues to be a major success for Rockstar, and its inability to run effectively on handheld PCs (mostly due to the issues with Rockstar Games' proprietary launcher) practically beg for it to get a console port to a powerful handheld capable of running it: the Switch 2. And with any luck, a GTA V port to the Switch 2 could signal that GTA VI will make its way to the platform as well.

• Release Date — April 24, 2025
• Developer — Sandfall Interactive
• Publisher — Kepler Interactive
• Genre — JRPG
• Review Aggregate Score — 92% (Universal Acclaim)

Arguably the best game of 2025 and a clear front-runner for Game of the Year, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 feels like the kind of title that only comes around once in a generation, and it's already breathing new life into the JRPG genre based on how its gameplay and narrative innovations could impact future titles in major franchises. Considering how successful JRPGs have been on the Switch, it only seems right for one of the most important new games in the genre to make its way to the Switch 2. And, like some of the other games on this list, a dedicated Switch 2 version could smooth over the rough patches that Clair Obscur has when running on currently available handheld PCs.

• Release Date — August 3, 2023
• Developer — Larian Studios
• Publisher — Larian Studios
• Genre — CRPG
• Review Aggregate Score — 96% (Universal Acclaim)

The new mouse functionality on the Switch 2's Joy Cons opens up all kinds of interesting new opportunities for games that could come to the platform, and one genre that deserves to see some love on console is the CRPG. What better CRPG to lay the foundation for the genre getting several noteworthy entries on the Switch 2 than Baldur's Gate 3, which is still the high mark for both RPG gameplay and storytelling. Baldur's Gate 3 on PS5 and Xbox Series X/S is already just fine with a controller, but it could be even better with the Switch 2's Joy Cons acting as mice.