WWE 2K18 Is Confirmed For Nintendo Switch, And That's A Big Deal

2K Games announced through WWE superstar Seth Rollins that for the first time in five years, finally WWE 2K is coming back to a Nintendo game console. This is a pretty big deal for a multitude of reasons, some of which Seth Rollins himself goes through in the announcement video.

The video was posted up over on the official Nintendo Youtube channel, featured Rollins talking about the huge news for WWE 2K18 appearing for the first time on the Nintendo Switch, and a WWE game making its return to Nintendo platforms after a five year hiatus.

The game will be playable both while portable and while you have the Switch stationed on your home TV, enabling gamers to either relax and kick off a match or two while resting on the couch, or slap the console in their backpack and have a rematch between Samoa Joe and Brock Lesnar while on the go.

This is huge news for a couple of reasons. First of all, there hasn't been a WWE game on Nintendo platforms since WWE 2K13 from back in 2012. That was the last time that 2K Games released a WWE game onto a Nintendo console, and that was for the Wii. The game wasn't bad, but it obviously lacked a ton of graphical features and some of the more advanced under-the-hood mechanics that Yukes had implemented into WWE 2K13 for the Xbox 360 and PS3. Yukes, at the time, had also utilized some new Predator Technology in the title, making the matches and movements for the wrestlers a lot more dynamic compared to previous titles. This was evident in the way the wrestlers moved, the way moves transitioned, and the way reversals looked. It was a step up from what was implemented in WWE 12 and Smackdown vs Raw 2011.

The other reason this is big news is because it shows that Nintendo is regaining some support with third-party development studios. As noted above, the last WWE 2K game was on the Wii, completely skipping the Wii U altogether during its run on the market. In fact, Nintendo lost tons of support during the Wii U era, but it appears the company is regaining some of its stature during this latest run thanks to the Nintendo Switch.

The one thing that I think a lot of people have on their mind is: how will the game run on the Switch?

If you haven't been following the news surrounding WWE 2K18, the game is running on an all new graphics engine, using per-entity shaders, physically based light rendering, real-time reflection shaders, enhanced dynamic shadows, and advanced planar rendering. While the Nintendo Switch can utilize Unity 3D and Unreal Engine 4 advanced software tech, it's still scaled for mobile optimization. So is it possible we'll see two different versions of WWE 2K18? One for the Switch and one for the PS4 and Xbox One?

According to reports, WWE 2K18 is supposed to be the most realistic WWE game ever made. I'm sure Switch fans can't wait to see what the game looks like in action, just the same as WWE fans probably can't wait to see how the new technology looks running in real-time. The game is due out this October for the Xbox One, PS4 and Nintendo Switch.

Will Usher

Staff Writer at CinemaBlend.

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