Switch 2’s AAA ambitions face a make-or-break year in 2026

Nintendo Switch 2 has already become the fastest-selling console in Nintendo's history. That's despite grumbles over its price tag and lack of innovation, and the double whammy of all-time killer apps that its predecessor had with Breath of the Wild and Super Mario Odyssey.

With a new year, however, it's time for the hybrid successor to prove its worth, especially if the upgrade was justified by a more powerful console. If you're here for Nintendo's games, then the Switch 2 editions of Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom, with their up-ressed picture quality and buttery smooth frame rates, or the dazzling voxel-based terrain destruction of Donkey Kong Bananza, may have already convinced you.

But this time Nintendo has also factored in ensuring third-party AAA devs can get their games running on the hardware, if not on parity with PS5 or Xbox Series X, then at least so that it's not given the backhanded compliment of an 'impossible port'. Given that devs are also having to optimise specifically for the console, you also expect there to be more guaranteed standards than the Wild West of the Steam Deck Verified label.

At launch, Cyberpunk 2077: Ultimate Edition set a real high bar for what's possible on Switch 2, while 2026 kicks off with the release of Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade, which already has a free demo that makes me think Square Enix has taken more care in this port compared to its history of lacklustre Steam releases. But these are still ultimately old games, and unless you're a Nintendo-only person, you ideally want to be able to play a new release you haven't already played, and in a state that won't make you regret not picking a more powerful platform for it.

So, as we look ahead to the year, these are some of the new same-day multiplatform releases to keep on the radar when it comes to putting the Switch 2 through its paces.

01. Resident Evil Requiem and Pragmata

Capcom had already put its incredible RE Engine to work back on Switch 1 with Monster Hunter Rise, while the proprietary engine's capabilities have been well-demonstrated at the Switch 2's launch with both Street Fighter 6 and Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess. Still, the ultimate test will come from how the hardware handles the scary photorealism of Resident Evil Requiem, which releases on 27 February.

However, initial trailer footage and a public Tokyo Game Show demo look confident. Even though fidelity takes a hit, notably the rather trademark RE Engine hair rendering gets a downgrade, fundamentally it looks faithfully like Resident Evil Requiem, in particular with its lighting (whether or not it will implement ray-tracing like Star Wars Outlaws managed to is as yet unclear).

Another surprise announcement is that the long-awaited Pragmata will also be coming to Switch 2 when it launches on 24 April. As a more action-oriented title, where you have to aim and shoot at hostile bots while carrying on your shoulder an android resembling a little girl who's hacking their defences at the same time, I'm keeping my fingers crossed that this unique game will also be able to run in 60 FPS.

02. Yakuza Kiwami 3 & Dark Tides

Yakuza Kiwami 3 is the latest remake of Sega's long-running crime series which arrives on 11 February. This time set in sunny Okinawa along with a new separate prequel starring the original game's antagonist Yoshitaka Mine, it runs on the Dragon Engine, which despite being now decade-old tech has continued being iterated with each release.

The release of Yakuza Kiwami 2 last December already gave us a good taster of what to expect, and an interesting comparison with Switch 2 launch title Yakuza 0: Director's Cut seeing as both feature Kamurocho and Sotenbori as key locations. The Dragon Engine provides even more realistic details where you also go between indoor and outdoor locations seamlessly, even in first-person if you want the full virtual tourism experience, even if resolution suffers while the action is capped at 30 FPS.

03. 007 First Light

With the N64's Goldeneye still considered the best Bond game of all time, it only feels right that the first 007 game in 14 years – 007 First Light – comes to a Nintendo platform, and there's certainly a lot of anticipation for IO Interactive to craft a tight action-packed blockbuster origin story for Bond that also retains the freeform sophistication of the latest Hitman games.

It will, however, come under heavy scrutiny given the performance issues facing Hitman: World of Assassination as a Switch 2 launch title, while early first looks at 007 First Light running on PC also seemed to show the developer's proprietary Glacier engine buckling during the more action-packed set pieces.

Hopefully, patches made to Hitman, as well as a delay of First Light's release from March to 27 May, mean lessons have been learned, and there's enough time to iron out what's set to be a highly anticipated return and reboot of the world's most famous secret agent.

Just got a Switch 2? Then grab these games on offer