Which third-party games can we realistically expect to see on the Switch 2 this year?

Nintendo is planning to release the Switch 2 this year, unless the company pulls a fast one during its April 2025 Nintendo Direct reveal. With a brand-new console set to hit the global market, it stands to reason that third parties will want their games on Nintendo’s newest device to increase annual profits. Obviously, Nintendo will have something ready for launch, but the staggering success of the current Switch has shown that people will buy “compromised” ports of big games just to play them on the go. People like playing how they want to.

So with that in mind, 2025 is going to see more than its fair share of ports to the Switch 2 that would have otherwise been impossible with the current hardware. With a plethora of big games on the horizon for this year and even some gigantic ones from the very recent past, we wanted to compile a list of games that we think have a realistic chance of appearing on the Switch 2 in 2025. We could put something like Hollow Knight: Silksong on the list, but then no one is certain if that will be released within this decade, let alone on the Switch 2.

With that out of the way, here are some of the biggest games we anticipate winding up on the Switch 2 either at launch or within its first year.

 

Doom: The Dark Ages

 

This one is pretty obvious, right? While Microsoft held its Xbox Developer Direct this month and showed off new footage of Doom: The Dark Ages without a Switch logo in sight, it’s probably a safe bet that this hotly anticipated sequel will wind up on Nintendo’s newest console. The two previous modern Doom games are on Switch and the series has a big presence with Nintendo’s home consoles. The likely reason this hasn’t been already announced is that nobody knew when Nintendo would actually unveil the Switch 2.

 

 

There’s also probably some legal stipulation that prevents other publishers from announcing Switch 2 games before Nintendo, which would mean that even if Doom: The Dark Ages is launching day-and-date on the Switch 2 with its other versions, it still can’t be announced yet. Even if this is belated like both Doom (2016) and Doom Eternal were to the current Switch, it’s bound to happen within 2025.

 

Grand Theft Auto VI

 

On the one hand, Grand Theft Auto VI launching on the Switch 2 sounds a little absurd. Rockstar has famously not supported Nintendo’s platforms during their heyday and made belated ports to the Switch of games that were otherwise not hot commodities. On the other hand, the fact that Red Dead Redemption wound up on Switch before PC shows that the company understands that a vast majority of people play their games on Nintendo’s hybrid console despite some performance setbacks.

 

 

With that in mind, we think it’s safe to assume that GTA VI will be on Switch 2 in 2025. Currently, no platforms have even been named for the game, though it’s obvious it will be releasing on PS5 and Xbox Series X|S. Since the game needs to run on the Series S, which the Switch 2 is supposedly as powerful as, it would only make sense to see the car-jacking series wind up on Nintendo’s next platform. It would open up a big audience to Rockstar and ensure that even more people are playing the latest GTA and spending money on microtransactions.

 

Final Fantasy 7: Remake and Rebirth

 

This entry is technically two games, but considering how long it’s been since FF7 Remake was released, Square Enix wouldn’t wait even longer to bring out its sequel on another platform. Final Fantasy 7: Remake sold incredibly well on PS4 and PS5, but Rebirth didn’t manage the same numbers because of its platform exclusivity. While that is soon to change with the PC port, Square Enix’s dire 2024 financials have seen the company shift away from exclusivity and into more day-and-date releases with other platforms.

 

 

It’s obviously too late for Remake and Rebirth to launch simultaneously on other consoles, but you can bet that both games will be on the Switch 2 this year since it will be hitting the market in 2025. While this wouldn’t have even been an idea worth entertaining before the Switch, Square Enix has ported practically every mainline Final Fantasy game to Nintendo’s hybrid platform. There’s even a port of the mobile edition of Final Fantasy 15, which is kind of bizarre and awesome.

 

Monster Hunter Wilds

 

In the not-to-distant past, Monster Hunter had mostly been associated with Nintendo and the 3DS. While the series came to life thanks to the PS2, Capcom eventually shifted gears to the Wii for the third installment and then took to Nintendo’s handheld consoles to find even more success. It was a long time coming, but Monster Hunter World in 2018 showed Capcom that gamers on all platforms were hungry for monster hunting, so the series has been multi-platform ever since.

 

 

With how tremendously successful Monster Hunter Rise was for the Switch, even if it did eventually see ports to everything, it makes sense that Capcom will want Wilds on Nintendo’s newest home console. The game is launching at the end of February, so it will certainly be out well before we even know exactly what the Switch 2 is, but you can bet the game will either be a launch title or release soon after.

 

Call of Duty 23

 

Call of Duty is a series that needs no introduction. As one of the most popular franchises in the history of gaming, Call of Duty has lasted more than 20 years and appeared on practically every console known to man… except for the Switch. Activision Blizzard did support the Wii U for a brief period with a couple of Call of Duty games, but Nintendo’s consoles have never been a major concern for the series, even before the games blew up with Modern Warfare back in 2007.

 

 

The thing is, times are different and the Switch has been too big for Activision Blizzard to ignore. Under Microsoft’s guidance, you can be damn sure Call of Duty 23 (or whatever the title will be, possibly Modern Warfare 4) will be on the Switch 2. We basically got confirmation of that during the court hearings over Microsoft’s attempt to buy out Activision Blizzard. The current console may not have been powerful enough to host Modern Warfare (2019) or Black Ops 6, but the Switch 2 will absolutely be more than capable of a modern FPS title.

 

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