Fallout 76 was just “wasn’t doable” on the Nintendo Switch, according to Bethesda.
Nintendo has a big hit with the Switch. You can tell because all the big-name developers are all falling over themselves to release ports on the Switch. Blizzard is bringing Diablo III over, Square Enix is porting literally every Final Fantasy game ever made, and even Atari is making a version of RollerCoaster Tycoon for the Switch.
But Fallout 76 isn’t going to be on the Switch. Ever. According to Bethesda's chief of marketing Pete Hines, “It just wasn’t doable.”
Hines was speaking at a panel at PAX Australia when he was asked about the possibility of Fallout 76 making its way to the Switch. He said that while Bethesda thinks about Nintendo’s handheld console for every game they make, not every game is possible to play on the Switch’s limited hardware.
"The Switch is something I can say with certainty that it's a part of every conversation with every dev we have now,” said Hines. “If the game will work on it, we want it to be on every platform possible.
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“Fallout 76 is not [coming to Switch] because it just wasn't doable. But honestly, there is no game in development that we haven't had a conversation about [bringing to Switch]. 'Does this work on the Switch, do you have a plan for the Switch?' It's not a mandate. Everything we do has to be developer-led, but it's something we want to make sure is on folks' radar."
Hines went on to say that Bethesda wants to be seen as a third-party leader for Switch games. With over 20 million Switches in circulation, it’s definitely in Bethesda’s best interest to cater to such an enormous market.
"You go where the money is because that's how you stay in business,” he said. “What we have seen compels us to say, '[Switch] is a viable platform for the kind of things we do going forward.'"
Although Fallout 76 won’t make it to the Switch, Hines did point out the next Wolfenstein game would be on the platform. Wolfenstein: Youngblood, the sequel to Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus, will join Skyrim and Doom in Bethesda’s Switch lineup. The upcoming Doom Eternal and The Elder Scrolls Legends will also be Switch games, with more to follow in the future.