CD Projekt RED’s Cyberpunk 2077 may not have started life on the best foot forward, but it was able to right its wrongs with its post-launch patches and the excellent DLC that was Phantom Liberty. The litany of performance issues on the eight-gen consoles made it obvious that the game would just not be playable on the original Switch, but now that we have the Switch 2 releasing in a few days – the developer has confirmed that it will be introducing this dystopian adventure to Nintendo’s latest platform. If you are interested in picking it up, these are 15 things that you should know about.
What’s Included?
Starting things off with the most obvious question, we have confirmation that Cyberpunk 2077 Ultimate Edition will not only include the base game but also the entirety of post-launch patches and Phantom Liberty in the box. As such, you can expect to spend a great deal of time exploring the many nooks and crannies of Night City and Dogtown without having to spend any extra money buying into these post-launch expansion packs.
Developer
As for the developer, Cyberpunk 2077’s Switch 2 port is being developed in-house by CD Projekt RED only. This can be a double-edged sword, with the advantage being that the developer has great knowledge about its engine and workings but the disadvantage is that it doesn’t have a lot of prior experience of porting its games over to a Nintendo console since The Witcher 3’s port was handled by Saber Interactive. But if we consider Cyberpunk 2077’s port on the Steam deck, we can have a lot more confidence than skepticism for this port.
Cross-Progression Support
One of the more interesting things about this port is that it comes with cross progression support across all platforms. CD Projekt RED recently confirmed that any save data from other platforms can be brought to the Switch 2 release. Those wondering how it would all work should know that this is achieved through exporting and importing your save through the developer’s cloud platform. It’s a great feature that makes jumping from other platforms pretty seamless, and makes buying into Cyberpunk 2077 on the Switch 2 a more lucrative option for anyone already owning the game on a previous platform.
Physical Release
On the topic of nice-to-haves, CD Projekt RED also confirmed that Cyberpunk 2077 will come on a 64 GB card, and it will have the whole game on the disc itself. Given the storage requirements on other platforms, it is curious to see the game fitting on such a small cartridge – but that’s only because language packs will have to be downloaded separately and textures are going to be compressed as per the output resolution of the console. In most regions, the English pack will be the default, while in Japan the Japanese one will be included on disk. It’s great to see such a seamless plug-and-play experience at a time when most developers are content in just including the download license on the disk.
DLSS Support
The Switch 2’s newer GPU architecture is compatible with DLSS, and it has already proven to be a game-changer when it comes to porting graphically demanding games like Cyberpunk 2077 over to a handheld device such as this one. The developer will be making heavy use of DLSS to achieve smooth results on the machine, and given the recent advancements in this technology, it has proven to be a reliable method to render at high resolution without exposing many visible artifacts.
Dock Mode Parameters
Let’s also talk about what CD Projekt RED is promising when it comes to performance on docked mode. The Dock mode will give flexibility in choosing between a quality and a performance mode. For the former, you reportedly get a 30fps experience with an output resolution of 1080p, while for the latter the frame-rate is bumped to 40fps with the same output resolution likely more aggressive upscaling to compensate for the frame-rate.
Handheld Mode Parameters
Coming over to the handheld mode on the Switch 2, CD Projekt RED reportedly offers a quality and a performance mode that almost rivals that of the docked mode. The quality mode targets 30fps at 1080p, and the performance mode bumps that up to 40fps but reduces the resolution to 820p. It might seem like a curious case at first, but it highlights just how important features like DLSS and VRR are, and how impressively the Switch 2 manages to retain much of its graphical power even in portable mode.
Performance Insights
According to early reports on the game, the performance varies from place to place, and players can expect a better playing experience during indoor sections than outdoor sections. That’s a rather obvious statement since the game’s computationally taxing world streaming system wouldn’t ask for much during indoor scenes but it’s also curious at the same point since the Switch 2 is also rocking an SSD along with adequate RAM. How much discrepancy remains between the two scenarios remains to be seen, but it is worth noting nevertheless.
Visual Comparison Against Console
When comparing Cyberpunk 2077’s Switch version to the console release, it’s obvious that the game pales in comparison to the PS5 and Xbox Series X versions on account of its lower texture quality and display resolution. It’s more in line with how the game looks on the last-gen machines the PS4 and Xbox One, minus the litany of performance issues those platforms faced well after its launch.
Visual Comparison Against Steam Deck
Another point of comparison for Cyberpunk 2077’s Switch edition has to be the Steam Deck, mostly because both machines are portable and have comparable power budgets. According to reports, the Switch 2 version of the game looks and performs better than what we have on the Steam Deck. In terms of performance, the game was able to hold its own in 40fps performance mode, albeit with some aggressive resolution scaling but thanks to DLSS – most of these grievances don’t mean much now given that upscaling works without any issues.
Joy-Con Features
Cyberpunk 2077 on the Switch is not just going to be a tasteless transition to a new platform, but it will be taking advantage of the platform-specific features, including the ingenious Joy-Con of the console. Players will be able to use motion controls for aiming, and using one of the joycon’s should be enough to cover major functionalities like using melee weapons.
Support For Gyro Aiming, Touch Screen Commands and Mouse
On the same note, we also have information about support for gyro aiming, touch screen commands and the mouse. The developer has confirmed that these features will also be available at launch, so if you are one of those players who are accustomed to gyro controls, transitioning to the Switch version of the game shouldn’t really be a challenge.
Price
One of the biggest questions that many fans would understandably have about the game is its price. While many developers choose to retail ports of their hits at a lower price, CD Projekt RED has confirmed that it will be selling the game at a full fat retail cost of $69.99. It does seem like a lot if you compare the prices across other platforms, but that seems to be the norm when it comes to these upcoming Switch 2 ports.
How Long To Beat?
When talking about price, it’s also important to discuss the value proposition that price brings with it. And thankfully in the case of Cyberpunk 2077, you are getting a lot of bang for your buck. Just rolling the main credits will require 30 hours, but if you do indulge in side-questing and complete the entirety of Phantom Liberty – this will stretch your playtime in the ballpark of 80 to 100 hours. And if you really want to dig deep into its choice and consequence systems along with tracking down collectibles, you could end up spending well over 200 hours exploring the criminal underbelly of Night City.
Release Date
When talking about the release date, Cyberpunk 2077: Ultimate Edition is scheduled to come out on June 5, 2025. This is supposed to be a launch title for the Switch 2, and it’s just one of the many last-gen ports that are being brought over to Nintendo’s newest platform. Many fans are also hoping to receive a Switch 2 upgrade for The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt and it’s possible that we may get that in the near future. The strong backing Switch 2 is getting from third-party developers is great to see, but not surprising. With the original Switch boasting an install base of over 150 million, it’s only natural that many studios are eager to support Nintendo’s next-gen hybrid console ahead of its launch.
