"No Man's Sky" is coming for the Nintendo Switch this summer, and developer Hello Games is saying that it might've almost never happened.
Photo from No Man's Sky Steam page
The upcoming "No Man's Sky" Switch port, as per Hello Games founder Sean Murray, appeared to be "near-impossible" to do considering the hardware capabilities of Nintendo's handheld, reports WCCFTech.
Murray wrote in a blog post on the Hello Games website about the struggles of bringing the Switch port of their universe-trotting adventure to life. In it, he mentioned how the game's use of procedural generation technology was tough to do on the hardware of the Nintendo Switch since the hardware is the one doing the generation of everything the player sees.
Apparently, there were "so many times" that the team at Hello Games thought a "No Man's Sky" Switch port was impossible. However, someone at the team apparently always comes up with "unique technical solutions" to the problem, which likely helped make the port a reality.
Their efforts were not in vain, as the trailer for the Switch edition of "No Man's Sky" has officially dropped after being announced at this year's Nintendo Direct event:
However, there's no exact release date for the Switch port, aside from the vague Spring 2022 release window. But it is confirmed that the game will be coming to the handheld without any compromises.
All of the past five years of updates made by Hello Games will be included in the port. This means everything that was ever released for the PC, Xbox, and PlayStation consoles, alongside these updates: Frontiers, Expeditions, Prisms, Foundation, and Companions, reports Polygon.
There are also the updates Pathfinder, Atlas Rises, Next, Visions, and The Abyss, to name a few more.
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The 'No Man's Sky' Switch Port Isn't The Only 'Impossible' One
The Nintendo Switch is no stranger to so-called "impossible" ports in its lifetime, as several AAA releases have already come to the platform in the past.
One of the best examples in recent times is CD Projekt Red's "The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt," which came to Nintendo's handheld in October 2019. When the game was released, it was considered one of the most demanding titles of the past generation in hardware terms.
Owing to the hardware limitations of the Switch, CDPR had to make several compromises to make "Witcher 3" run on it, as per Polygon. For one, they decreased the game's resolution to as low as 540p in portable mode and 720p when docked.
Another example of an "impossible" Switch port is Warhorse Studios' "Kingdom Come: Deliverance," a game made using the extremely graphically intense CryEngine. It was confirmed way back in June of last year, though it still doesn't have an official release date (via Tech Times).
"No Man's Sky" joins these two former AAA giants on Nintendo's capable little handheld gamer. There's no indication yet of which compromises Hello Games will make to ensure that the game runs on the Switch, but all will be revealed by Spring 2022.
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Story posted on GameNGuide
Written by RJ Pierce