Last March, Overwatch director Jeff Kaplan spoke about a possible Nintendo Switch version of the hit team-based first-person shooter. He said that a Switch port will be "very challenging" for them, but they're always open to bringing the game to other platforms.
Now, it appears that Paladins, a game often compared to Overwatch due to their similarities, also won't be arriving on Switch anytime soon. Todd Harris, Hi-Rez Studios' COO and co-founder, told DualShockers that a Paladins port on Switch is not yet being considered "at this time."
He said that they are focusing their efforts on PC, Mac, Xbox One, and PS4. Hi-Rez' Studios recently launched the open beta of Paladins on consoles, less than a year after it released as an Early Access game on Steam.
Furthermore, Harris also sounded off on a possible Xbox Scorpio port. He said that they are "scoping effort" on possible support for Microsoft's upcoming beastly console, which will arrive this holiday season. But they're not yet onboard to commit to an Xbox Scorpio Paladins port, though he acknowledged that the console "looks like great technology."
Just last month, Kaplan provided more details to Express Online on why an Overwatch port for Switch is challenging.
"I think the problem is, we've really targeted our min spec in a way that we would have to revisit performance and how to get on that platform."
Adding another platform to watch over and release patches on would also complicate things, as they already have their hands full with the PC, PS4, and Xbox One versions of Overwatch.
Harris did not provide more details on whether a Paladins Switch port would be challenging for them. But they will likely run into the same dilemma as Blizzard Entertainment when attempting to port their free-to-play game to Switch.
Many accuse Paladins of being an Overwatch clone, but Harris has said that that's not the case. He said in a lengthy post on Reddit that the credit goes to Team Fortress 2, an outdated but still popular hero-based first-person shooter that many see as the pioneer of the genre.
Paladins first went into open beta on September 16, 2016, with the consoles open beta arriving just last week.