Although Pearl Abyss’s game hasn’t been officially announced for the Nintendo Switch 2 yet, the only question is when we’ll hear about it.

Crimson Desert developer Pearl Abyss recently confirmed that it has begun researching and developing a potential Nintendo Switch 2 version of the game. According to Digital Foundry, the current-gen Nintendo console will likely be able to run the game at 30 FPS with acceptable image quality thanks to Nvidia DLSS. However, this may be similar to the Switch port of The Witcher 3, for which some changes were necessary to ensure the game could run on much weaker hardware (PlayStation 4 and Xbox One). Since the Xbox Series S is closest in specifications to the Nintendo Switch 2, we can use this version of the game as a basis for what to expect on the Nintendo system.

The Nintendo Switch 2 version will likely have to significantly reduce the resolution to achieve a 30 FPS frame rate. However, the system can compensate for this with Nvidia DLSS, which is the Switch 2’s real advantage over the Xbox Series S and other handheld consoles with similar performance capabilities, such as the Steam Deck. However, the Switch 2’s CPU could be a real bottleneck for Crimson Desert.

“Pearl Abyss has been quite open about the PC equivalent settings: model quality low, texture quality low, shadow quality low, reflection quality minimum, advanced weather effects off, and water quality low. On the Xbox Series S in performance mode at 720p, everything is set to low. We’ve seen titles that scale well on the Nintendo Switch 2 in terms of GPU performance. However, as soon as CPU performance comes into play, there’s a threshold where it can’t get much faster. When you get to places like Bug Hill, there isn’t much the developers can do other than strip NPCs or reduce the NPC draw distance. The only option is to reduce the density of NPCs. Similar to what happened with The Witcher 3 on the Switch, they may have spent a lot of time optimizing the CPU just to make it happen”, said the editors of Digital Foundry.

There’s a good chance that the Nintendo Switch 2 version of Crimson Desert will have to do without the vast number of NPCs that bring the world to life in order to achieve a 30 FPS frame rate. Given that the game isn’t fast-paced, this could still provide an enjoyable experience, especially in handheld mode. While the reduced visual fidelity compared to other versions of the game will likely impact the experience, Crimson Desert is still worth checking out, even as a slightly simplified port. Its Blackspace Engine-powered graphics are just one of the things that make the game appealing.

Source: WCCFTech