Overwatch For Nintendo Switch Is Feasible, But StarCraft 2 Isn't

The confirmation that Diablo 3 is coming to Switch marks the first time in 15 years that a Blizzard title has appeared on a Nintendo platform. Now that the relationship between the two studios has been rekindled, discussions will naturally move to other Blizzard games that could make the jump to the Switch. Overwatch, the popular team-based shooter, stands out as a potential contender, and Blizzard thinks that, from a technology perspective, it is possible.

While talking about bringing Diablo 3 to Nintendo Switch, senior producer Pete Stilwell said that working on the game was a good opportunity for Blizzard to explore the Switch technology and get a better understanding of it. This was made easier by the fact that Diablo 3 has already been ported to consoles. With this in mind, GameSpot asked Stilwell how he felt about bringing Overwatch to the platform.

"Anything is within the realm of possibility," he said. "Our team was given the task to work on this. If [Overwatch developer] Team 4 picks up that endeavour, that's on them. As of right now Diablo is our only focus on Switch." Asked if he thinks Overwatch could run on Switch, Stilwell said, "Yes, it is feasible."

StarCraft 2, another big Blizzard title, is less likely to make the jump to Nintendo's new platform as the gameplay itself would require some reworking. Explaining the reasoning, Stilwell recalled the Nintendo 64 version of the first StarCraft, which had to be changed significantly to fit the platform.

"The N64 version of StarCraft was cool but you had to change the game quite a bit to make it work properly on console," he said. "StarCraft 2 is next level requirements from how much dexterity you need with a mouse and keyboard, so I think that would have been a very difficult port. It would have [to] change the core gameplay."

While StarCraft 2's reliance on mouse and keyboard is likely to keep a Switch version off the table, Overwatch is well suited to controllers, and given that console versions exist for Blizzard to work from, perhaps there is hope for Overwatch on Switch yet.

Diablo 3: Eternal Collection for Nintendo Switch is a content-rich package that will be available in 2018. It features the main game, as well as the Reaper of Souls and the Rise of the Necromancer DLC. It also comes with Zelda-themed crossover items.