For gamers who poured hours into the early versions of Nintendo Switch port now becomes reality due to positive fan towards the notion. A recent press release from developer Warhorse studios confirmed that what started as a clerical error has led to a decision to move forward with a Switch version.
Kingdom Come was released in 2018 for PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. The game followed the familiar format of recent Elder Scrolls games as a first-person open world action RPG, with a variety of traditional RPG statistics and skills increased through repeated uses of abilities, rather than through an overall experience point and level-based system. Kingdom Come’s major deviation from other similar RPGs was its complete absence of fantasy elements, as the game takes place in 15th century Bohemia, the region that is now the Czech Republic, and made efforts at verisimilitude with its depiction of the setting.
The story, by necessity, was a more personal tale, with a restrained scope and focus that uses its real-world setting to subvert the conventions of high fantasy RPGs. While the protagonist Henry, a blacksmith’s son, swears to avenge the destruction of his hometown, the raiders are human, not orcs or other monsters, and the motive for the attack is entirely political, not a sign of some encroaching supernatural evil, as in most RPGs with a similar inciting event. Henry seeks answers, and victory comes through political alliances and siege weapons instead of following a prophecy to find a legendary relic, or other typical RPG tropes.
A Kingdom Come Switch Port Poses A Difficult Challenge
The game has received several updates, some of which improved stability while others added content through DLC side-quests. Prague-based studio Warhorse games announced Kingdom Come: Deliverance’s release for PS4 in Japan in late 2020, and according to their press release, “Due to a clerical error, the game was also listed for the Nintendo Switch, which at the time was not in the plans. The ‘mistake’ was fixed right away, but the information spread.” The developers describe the fan as “eye-opening,” which prompted the decision to make the mistakenly reported Switch port of Kingdom Come a reality. “It is amazing to see how much involvement and influence gamers worldwide can have on game development. The overwhelming and fan reaction made us reconsider our opportunities,” said Warhose Studios’ PR manager.
While far from the dramatic tug of war between fan desires and studio preferences as with the tumultuous production of Zack Snyder’s Justice League, the Kingdom Come port to Switch does highlight a case where a fan community’s vocal preferences have influenced business decisions. In the gaming world, other recent examples of this include Microsoft’s reversal of a planned price hike for Games With Gold, and Sony’s decision to maintain the PSN store for PS3 and Vita consoles after initially announcing they would be closing the online storefronts. More gamers having access to a unique take on the open world RPG genre is a good thing for the consumer, and the option to play the game on the go could be tempting even to those who already own Kingdom Come in one of its current formats.
There are some concerns surrounding any port of a mainstream game to the less powerful Switch hardware. Titles like Skyrim and The Witcher 3 for Switch have shown that large-scale, open world RPGs can function on Nintendo's current console, although occasionally with some sacrifices to performance. As Kingdom Come: Deliverance struggled with optimization even on the more powerful Xbox and PlayStation consoles, and on many gaming PCs, the Switch port seems an especially challenging proposition for Warhorse. With no specific release date announced, Switch gamers will have to wait to see when the kingdom of Bohemia comes to the hybrid console, and hope that the port delivers a smooth experience, and a new way to enjoy this ambitious game.
