The worst kept secret in gaming is finally out in the open: Blizzard’s Overwatch is coming to the Nintendo Switch on October 15. As seen in the trailer below, the Switch port features gyroscopic tilt controls for aiming and other functions, like steering Junkrat’s explosive tire ult. Overwatch on Switch retails for $39.99, and beyond that, it sure does seem like Overwatch!
Every purchase of Overwatch on Switch includes three months of Nintendo’s Switch Online service, which is required to play the game, and those who pre-order will also receive Widowmaker’s coveted “Noire” skin. Noire Widowmaker hasn’t been available since the game first launched in 2016, as it was bundled with the game’s “Day One” edition. Codes for Noire Widowmaker routinely sell for $50–$100 on eBay, depending on market conditions of course, which today’s announcement will surely throw into utter chaos.
The Switch version of Overwatch also comes with 15 other skins, pre-ordered or not, which can be seen below (names approximate): Cop Dva, Valkyrie Mercy, Wolf Honzo, 60s Detective McCree, Juggalo Junkrat, Halo Reach Anna, Can of LaCroix Widowmaker, PlayStation 2 Genji, Gaudy Rich Person Living Room Statue Reinhardt, Destiny 2-Edition PlayStation 4 Moira, Test Pilot Tracer, Hot Gay Dad Soldier 76, Studio Ghibli Bastion, Ugly Helmet Pharah, and Blackwatch Reyes Reaper.
There’s still a good deal we don’t know about Overwatch‘s debut on the Nintendo Switch. Voice chat, for instance, is a staple Overwatch feature on every other platform, but the bizarre, case-by-case basis by which Nintendo Online supports voice chat throws its inclusion here into question. We also don’t know if Nintendo Switch owners will be able to link their Nintendo Accounts with their Battle.net Accounts, thereby importing their existing Overwatch profiles from other platforms. If this ends up being possible, many might purchase Overwatch for Switch just to unlock the included skins on other platforms. If it isn’t possible, we doubt that many established Overwatch players will make the jump to Switch.
On a related note, there is no cross-platform matchmaking in Overwatch, and we see no reason for that to change once the Switch version is out there. We would like to know if players will be matched together based on their input method of choice — people playing with Pro Controllers will likely have an advantage over those using joy-cons and/or tilt controls. Blizzard has made no announcement on this front.
As was reported earlier today by Fanbyte Morning News Correspondent Victoria Rose, Overwatch‘s Switch reveal leaked in the wee hours of the morn through European retail listings, which Kotaku independently confirmed with its own anonymous sources. Today’s leak was the second time such an event has occurred, as our first hint of the port came from an Overwatch-themed Nintendo Switch case that accidentally went live on Amazon earlier this month.
That first leak prompted us to dream big, and our Managing Editor Steven Strom came up with seven Nintendo-themed Overwatch costumes that made a heck of a lot of sense. It seemed like Nintendo-themed something for the Switch port was a foregone conclusion, but alas, hours past the reveal and Nintendo has yet to reveal Donkey Kong Winston or Shy Guy Reaper.
