Only 7 months have passed since Nintendo officially gave a reveal window for the successor to the Nintendo Switch, but for fans of the brand, it’s felt like an eternity. Rumors about the as-of-yet unannounced console have been leaking out from all corners of the internet these past few months, from both trustworthy and questionable sources. At this point, it seems like practically every morsel of information about the Switch 2 has leaked online, including its specs, dimensions, and even controllers. In spite of all this commotion, Nintendo has remained oddly silent about the Switch‘s successor, and has given little-to-no information about what fans should expect from it.
Much of the discussion regarding the Switch 2 has centered around its launch date. Since the Switch 2 is supposed to be announced sometime before March 31, 2025, many have speculated that the console will be revealed in early January and released during the summer. Others have even suggested that Nintendo’s next system will be launched as early as March. Regardless of when exactly the Switch 2 hits store shelves, though, it will likely have a pretty extensive lineup of games upon its release, including those from third-party developers. One of the games that would be a perfect fit as a launch title for the console is Genshin Impact.
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Genshin Impact Should Be a Launch Title for the Switch 2
Genshin Impact is a Zelda-Inspired Gacha RPG from HoYoverse
Genshin Impact is one of the few AAA games out there that needs no introduction. This HoYoverse-developed gacha RPG had somewhat of a humble beginning, but it eventually evolved into a multibilllion dollar media giant in a relatively short timeframe. Just a few years after its release on PlayStation 4, PC, and iOS/Android in 2020, the game generated an astounding $3.9 billion in revenue on all platforms. Genshin Impact‘s unprecedented success popularized the gacha game genre worldwide, which, for the most part, had previously been niche outside of Asian territories.
Although Genshin Impact is often cited as an inspiration for many video games these days, some may forget that Genshin Impact itself is heavily inspired by Nintendo’s The Legend of Zelda series. Indeed, when HoYoverse’s action RPG was first shown off at the ChinaJoy expo in 2019, many gamers accused it of being a blatant Breath of the Wild copycat, due to its similar-looking open world and gliding mechanics. Ultimately, Genshin Impact ended up being very distinct from BOTW in terms of gameplay and tone, but it did still adopt some of that Zelda charm.
Genshin Impact Launching on Switch 2 Day-One Could Make Up for Its Long-Delayed Switch Port
Considering how much inspiration it takes from a classic Nintendo franchise, it’s somewhat surprising that Genshin Impact isn’t available on a Nintendo console. Although the game was announced for the Switch in January 2020 (months before it had even been released), the port is still nowhere in sight. In the years that have passed since then, Genshin Impact has been brought to both the PlayStation 5 and the Xbox Series X/S, with no word of a Switch release. HoYoverse did publicly state in 2022 that the Nintendo Switch version of the game was still in development, but given the company’s silence on the matter and the imminent launch of the Switch 2, it wouldn’t be surprising to hear that it has been canceled.
Genshin Impact may be playable on mobile phones, but it’s still a surprisingly demanding game, and because of that, the Switch may not be powerful enough to handle it. As such, the Switch 2 seems like the perfect home for HoYoverse’s hit action RPG. Since Nintendo’s next console will be more graphically capable than its predecessor, it’s highly probable that it will be able to run a game like Genshin Impact with ease. If HoYoverse does decide to bring the game to the Switch 2, though, it should aim to release it as a launch title for the system. Nintendo fans have already waited long enough to get their hands on Genshin Impact, so a day-and-date release on the Switch‘s successor would be the perfect way to make it up to them.
Nintendo Switch
- Brand
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Nintendo
- Weight
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.88 lbs
- Storage
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32 GB
- Display
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6.2-inch LCD Screen / 1280 x 720
- Battery
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Approximately 4.5 – 9 hours