How CD Projekt Red Got Cyberpunk 2077 Running on Switch 2

Nintendo’s large uncover of the Switch 2 backmost successful April came with galore surprises, but possibly the astir unexpected of them was that Cyberpunk 2077 was among the motorboat lineup. While the Switch 2 whitethorn beryllium a full caller procreation for Nintendo, the console is – overmuch similar its predecessor – comparatively humble erstwhile it comes to hardware horsepower. Cyberpunk 2077, meanwhile, is 1 of the astir technically ambitious video games ever made. Not lone that, but the Switch 2 mentation is the implicit package, including the Phantom Liberty enlargement that was designed with PS5, Xbox Series, and high-end PC specs successful mind. And truthful each this poses a large question: however has developer CD Projekt Red enactment Cyberpunk 2077 connected Switch 2? Is this a lawsuit of forbidden humor magic, oregon has the workplace made heavy compromises to the experience? The reply is neither. In fact, this isn’t rather the intolerable larboard it seems from the outside.

“We truly thought it was going to beryllium much of a challenge,” says Charles Tremblay, VP of Technology astatine CD Projekt Red. “But successful the end, [it was] not that much.”

The roadworthy to Cyberpunk 2077’s Switch 2 mentation began backmost successful summertime 2023, erstwhile Nintendo met with CD Projekt Red to sermon its past top-secret caller hardware. “At that constituent [there was] nary Software Development Kit,” explains Tremblay. “Just much similar ‘Okay, is determination a anticipation for america to collaborate with this hardware?’ I retrieve I was successful the country and we conscionable looked astatine each other. It was like, ‘Yeah of people we volition cheque it [out], it looks similar a truly chill product.”

CD Projekt Red had, of course, already worked with Nintendo before. The Witcher 3 had been ported to the archetypal Switch successful 2019, though improvement duties were handled by Saber Interactive alternatively than CDPR itself. This clip astir things had to beryllium different, successful portion owed to the information that the Switch 2 had yet to beryllium publically announced and truthful needed to beryllium kept a closely-guarded secret. “It was mode easier to person a precise ace tiny squad moving end-to-end with Nintendo alternatively than delegating the process,” says Tremblay.

Another important origin successful keeping the improvement in-house was simply the studio’s cognition and expertise successful Cyberpunk 2077 itself. “We person precise cardinal radical successful present that cognize precisely however to marque Cyberpunk run,” Tremblay says. And those radical would beryllium vital, arsenic the Switch 2 mentation required galore elements of the crippled to beryllium re-engineered.

“Cyberpunk is built for x86 with aged PC architecture,” explains Tremblay. “So this from the opening was wholly different. Lots of changes had to beryllium done astatine the motor level, each the shaders [are successful a] antithetic language. We had to person everything, immoderate HLSL to GLSL. [The Switch 2 uses] a very, precise antithetic architecture.”

Another happening the squad had to contend with was that the Switch 2 has less computational cores disposable than immoderate different level Cyberpunk has been built for, including erstwhile procreation consoles. “We person astatine slightest 1 halfway we stock with the OS [operating system],” Tremblay reveals. That narrowing of resources means that wherever erstwhile determination was halfway abstraction disposable to heighten performance, that abstraction present has to beryllium utilized for activities specified arsenic decompression oregon IO operation. “This was 1 of the struggles we had, but different I deliberation it was amazingly accelerated to get the crippled moving connected the platform. We were each ace impressed.”

During the aboriginal stages of production, 1 of the main aims was simply to “try to fig retired if [running Cyberpunk 2077 connected Switch 2 is] adjacent possible.” As it became wide that the hardware was capable, a cardinal instrumentality successful ensuring the acquisition was arsenic beardown arsenic imaginable was Nvidia’s DLSS system. This rendering exertion uses artificial quality to upscale little resolutions and make further frames, resulting successful sharper images with accrued framerates.

“With DLSS it decidedly increases the prime that you tin have, connected the spell and connected the TV,” says Tremblay. “That being said, the exertion we built scales precise good crossed each the platforms.”

“We tin set the assemblage density, we tin set the fidelity we privation the characters to person erstwhile we power levels of detail,” helium explains. “So it was very, precise easy. And, of course, the DLSS helped to bring the prime to different level, but I deliberation each of those things unneurotic makes the larboard precise good.”

Since the Switch 2’s hardware specifications were released to the world, the go-to examination has been a PlayStation 4. That’s a coagulated capable basal for a handheld device, but it does acceptable disconnected alarm bells erstwhile it comes to Cyberpunk 2077 – a crippled that infamously ran terribly connected that procreation of consoles. So if the Switch 2 is similar a PS4, that means that Cyberpunk volition beryllium atrocious connected it, right? Not truthful much. While the consoles stock similarities, the Switch 2 benefits from galore modern technologies. DLSS is 1 of them, but determination are respective different factors.

“It was precise hard for the erstwhile procreation of consoles,” Tremblay admits. “I deliberation I volition accidental that the astir hard occupation was the mechanical hard drive, which is 1 of the things that’s precise important not to have.” The Switch 2 uses bespoke cartridges, but much importantly it supports the caller microSD Express retention strategy that features faster information work and constitute speeds, “which is great” according to Tremblay.

“The Switch 2 has much RAM [than the erstwhile procreation of consoles], which is besides precise important,” helium adds. All this means that not lone does the Switch 2 mentation of Cyberpunk 2077 tally amended than the PS4 and Xbox One versions, but it besides includes the Phantom Liberty expansion, which was overmuch excessively demanding for aged tech and frankincense was not released connected last-gen systems.

Make nary mistake, immoderate other RAM, amended storage, and DLSS doesn’t miraculously crook the Switch 2 into a high-end PC. And truthful Cyberpunk 2077 connected Nintendo’s caller console is not the aforesaid acquisition arsenic it is connected a RTX 5090-powered rig. The contented is the aforesaid – the aforesaid missions, streets, characters, and weapons – but the solution and framerates are reigned successful to guarantee compatibility with the Switch 2’s specifications. Similar to the Xbox and PlayStation versions, determination are 2 ocular options to take from: prime mode hits 1080p/30fps, portion the show mode targets 40fps astatine 1080p erstwhile docked, oregon 40fps astatine 720p connected the system’s ain screen.

It’s not conscionable astir solution and framerates, though. The squad astatine CD Projekt Red cautiously combed done the crippled to measure what changes they could marque to guarantee Cyberpunk was much Switch 2-friendly. “We person radical that are ace experienced astir the crippled and they truly looked astatine what benignant of parity we privation to person with different platforms, immoderate compromise [we made],” Tremblay explains. “We bash a batch of iteration with them. So if we trim the prime of [an element] and we play the game, we fig retired ‘Okay, this is great’ oregon ‘This is not.’ And immoderate of the radical that person very, precise bully eyes tin marque those calls and we ever effort to compromise show versus quality.

“We bash person immoderate radical that are virtually tweaking the settings, playing the games continuously, to fig retired what benignant of solution compromise we tin have, what benignant of prime settings we tin person to marque the champion acquisition for the players.”

A screenshot from the Switch 2 mentation of Cybperunk 2077. | Image credit: CD Projekt Red

While the Switch 2 has understandable limitations, CD Projekt Red has steadfast prime bars that it wishes to adhere to. That includes a minimum framework complaint of 30 frames per second.

“So conscionable to beryllium clear, if it goes nether 30fps, I don't deliberation that's great,” Tremblay states. “There's nary specified happening arsenic ‘Oh, this is good to get 25 [fps successful this section.’] No it's not, it should beryllium 30fps everywhere.”

While 60fps has go the wide accepted aureate modular by galore developers and players, hitting that barroom connected Switch 2 hardware with a crippled arsenic analyzable arsenic Cyberpunk 2077 is simply a gangly ask. It’s wherefore the show mode targets a mediate ground.

“I deliberation the 40fps is simply a precise bully compromise to the 60fps,” Tremblay says. “Honestly, I deliberation it's a crippled changer, astatine slightest for maine arsenic a gamer. And we person the aforesaid connected docked mode. The quality is that connected docked mode it's babelike connected your TV setting. So if you person a 120Hz refresh rate, past you tin person the 40fps mode.”

All this speech of framework rates, resolutions, and compromises ignores the existent strengths of the Switch 2 version, though. Nintendo’s hardware provides a unsocial attack that CDPR has embraced. “I deliberation that connected the handheld device, I deliberation the acquisition is precise good,” says Tremblay. “I deliberation the acquisition that we have, that is mode antithetic than different platforms, with the gyros, the Joy-Con, the rodent support. I deliberation the full bundle successful general, I deliberation it's rather good.”

CDPR has gone all-in connected these features. Motion controls let you to augment the shooting mechanics with subtle movements of the Joy-Cons. If you’re looking for thing much precise, you tin crook the right-hand controller connected its broadside and usage it arsenic a mouse, resulting successful an aiming acquisition person to that utilized by the PC version. And, of course, each this tin beryllium done connected a bus, a plane, oregon astatine the bottommost of your garden.

“I bash deliberation that each those things that the level introduced [is] what makes this mentation different,” Tremblay says. “At the aforesaid clip [it’s] the aforesaid large experience, don't get maine wrong, but different, but not competing with the high-end prime way tracing connected PC that you tin have. This is not the goal, but the level arsenic a full I deliberation stands connected its own.”

That past constituent is the existent cardinal to knowing the Switch 2 port. The full task is astir making a large mentation – not the top mentation – of Cyberpunk 2077. And adjacent then, that measurement of ‘greatest’ depends connected your priorities. If you already person a PC oregon a PS5 and you request a silky-smooth framerate astatine 4K, past possibly the Switch 2 mentation isn’t a large acceptable for you. But if you’re chiefly a Mario instrumentality who lone buys Nintendo consoles, past this caller mentation of Cyberpunk 2077 is the top version, due to the fact that yet determination is simply a mentation for you.

And for those with some systems, there’s flexibility. “We person the transverse save,” says Tremblay. “You tin spell to your home, you play connected PC, and if you privation to go, if you privation to proceed your game, it's nary large deal. You conscionable instrumentality your save. So for me, it's decidedly the handheld instrumentality to play connected the go. It's a strategy seller for me, for sure.”

Matt Purslow is IGN's Senior Features Editor.