CI Games talks difficulty of porting Sniper: Ghost Warrior 3 to Nintendo Switch
Ahead of the release of Sniper: Ghost Warrior 3 on April 28, developer CI Games talks about the likelihood of the game appearing on the Nintendo Switch.
We recently got a chance to be dropped behind enemy lines in CI Games’ Sniper: Ghost Warrior 3 for PC, Xbox One and PlayStation 4. Due out on April 28, the game is a leap up from its two predecessors, spending its triple-A budget on a vast, open-world filled with a harsh Georgian landscape, dynamic weather and a full NPC ecosystem. You can read our detailed hands-on impressions of the game here, but needless to say, if you like the stealth and strategy that comes with the sniper class, you have plenty to look forward to.
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Touring the code out to Australia was the game’s lead level designer, Tomasz Pruski. I got an opportunity to have a chat with him, and while we spoke a lot about the game’s design, I wanted to get to the hottest topic first - the Nintendo Switch. Will it? Won’t it? And Why? Here is how the conversation unfolded.
How closely did you look at the Nintendo Switch as a console for Sniper: Ghost Warrior 3 and do you think it could run a game this complex?
So we will not be releasing Sniper: Ghost Warrior 3 on Nintendo Switch, but we are definitely looking at it for future products. We met with them [Nintendo] and talked about the possibilities. Sniper is not our only IP, so we’re looking to put different games on there. But nothing is official as of now.
Do third-party developers like CI Games have an install base figure in mind before they feel like the Nintendo Switch is a viable place to release games?
Definitely! So most of the games that are out on Switch or are coming are usually – well I cannot speak for all the developers, but they are not developed parallel to their Xbox One and PS4 counterparts. So you have to put in a lot of extra effort and it’s a lot harder than porting from PS4 to Xbox One. So definitely I think developers will be looking to develop specific games just for the Switch. But the install base is already pretty good I think, as a tonne of people bought it, including me, on day one.
So you don’t think internally, “when it gets to an install base of 10 million we’ll start developing for it,” or anything like that?
Before you commit to a game, be it an exclusive or a port, you definitely have to have a decent user base. But I don’t think Nintendo Switch is going to have a problem with a user base. The added bonus is, that because this is a young console, you don’t have a lot of competition. So if you develop a game for it now, most of the people who own the console are going to buy it. So there’s pros and cons, but I am hoping that a lot more third-party games will come out for the Switch than we saw with the Wii U. Especially as an owner of the Nintendo Switch.
So there will be no Sniper: Ghost Warrior 3 for Switch – that was made clear. But there is something in the works from CI Games, based on one of its other IP. The developer is also behind Lords of the Fallen, a sequel for which is currently in development. But looking at Pruski’s word choice, the likelihood is that something like the studio’s Cooking Academy series is more likely.