In Theory: Is a Switch port of The Witcher 3 actually viable?
On the face of it, the notion of Nintendo Switch hosting a conversion of CD Projekt RED's The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt seems almost ridiculous. The original release pushed the current-gen consoles hard and the notion of the game transitioning across to a significantly less powerful mobile-orientated platform almost beggars belief. And yet, the rumours surrounding a Switch port are gathering pace: Chinese retailers have shown packaging and even a special edition console, and when Eurogamer approached CDPR about the game, the firm declined to comment when erroneous rumours could have been categorically ruled out. Nothing is confirmed, but the possibility remains open - and I couldn't help but wonder how such an ambitious port could be achieved.
Of course, the Switch itself has played host to a number of impressive technological showcases, and it has done so since launch with the arrival of Fast RMX - a hugely impressive work-out for the Tegra X1. But the notion of challenging current-gen fare receiving viable Switch ports really kicked off with the arrival of Doom 2016, translated across to the mobile chipset by the brilliant Panic Button, who've since impressed us still further with conversions of Wolfenstein: The New Colossus and Warframe. Other developers have pushed Switch hard too, with QLOC's impressive Hellblade port and Shiver's Mortal Kombat 11 bringing current-gen console experiences into the palm of your hand.
The Witcher 3 though? The scale of this project is a class apart: we'd be looking at the conversion of a massive game that challenges hardware on many levels. First of all, there's the concept of bringing a current-gen open world across from systems with significantly more CPU power and a lot more memory. Then there's the density of the visuals - The Witcher 3 delivers a very rich sandbox within which to play. And finally, there's the issue of memory bandwidth: the PC version of the game (likely the major donor towards a potential Switch port) really does like bandwidth, and Switch is somewhat limited there.
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