Could the release of Alien: Isolation herald more Xbox One and PS4 ports for the Nintendo Switch?
Buried away in this week’s E3 2019 Nintendo Direct was the blink-and-you-miss-it announcement that Creative Assembly’s 2014 sci-fi horror game, Alien: Isolation, is coming to Switch later this year.
Alien: Isolation continues the story of the beloved film franchise, with players assuming the role of Ellen Ripley’s daughter, Amanda. The game was extremely well received by critics and devoted Alien fans. Its environmental design is particularly impressive, with production assets from Ridley Scott’s film used to inform the game’s labyrinthine Sevastopol Station location.
Nintendo Switch ports of popular Xbox One and PlayStation 4 games have become a key source of work for a number of studios. Panic Button has impressed with their efforts on Doom and Wolfenstein: The New Colossus, and Saber Interactive are currently beavering away on the unlikely port of CD Projekt Red’s The Witcher III.
Alien: Isolation is being handled by the UK’s Feral Interactive, a studio that has made its name by bringing a range of top-tier games – including Tomb Raider, Life is Strange, and XCOM 2 – to Mac and Linux. If Alien: Isolation – and the upcoming Grid Autosport – do well, it’s tempting to speculate that the prolific studio will pick up many more games to bring to the Switch.
There’s no release date set for Alien: Isolation other than a 2019 window, but Feral has confirmed that the port will include some Switch-specific additions such as gyroscopic aiming and HD rumble.
Take a look at the spooky new trailer, if you dare.
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