Capcom: "MHW can't be done on Switch." But might make a Switch specific MH game. (Rumor)

[Azuren]

spemanig said:
I mean that's just ridiculous. The idea that anything like MHW can't exist on Switch when BotW does is just silly. The idea that games like Wolfenstein II and Doom could be graphically downgraded to be playable on the Switch but MHW is this impossible task is silly. Dragon's Dogma ran on a 360. Claims like this are just so absurd and phony to me.

I'm being genuine when I ask this: just what exactly is MHW doing computationally that couldn't be done on the Switch or even a 360 with fewer polygons, less detailed textures, and maybe less complex particle effects? Are there physics or ai demands going on here that I'm just not seeing that are integral to the gameplay and simultaneously impossible on weaker hardware? Like literally, what are they even talking about?

The biggest thing I can think of that might play a role is the amount of things happening off screen. Up to three large monsters can roam the map, interacting with smaller monsters, the environment, and each other independently of the players' intervention. Combine that with its level of graphics (not amazing, but clearly beyond what the Switch can handle) and you've got a game that is currently far from being able to run on Switch. There would likely need to be a significant amount of pop-in needed to make it work, and it might even have to lower the number of roaming monster on the map down to two to run on Switch.