Nintendo Everything- Rise of the Tomb Raider: 20 Year Celebration is now available on Switch 2.
- Developers considered a Switch 1 version but ultimately rejected it because the original Switch doesn’t offer the performance capabilities required; a port would have meant cutting almost all visual effects.
- The game was released on Switch 2 without 60fps due to the need for serious visual and technical compromises.
- The team spent several months trying to optimize the game and concluded it would not provide a stable and comfortable experience.
- Regarding gyro controls for aiming, the team has seen the feedback and will be discussing the feature, but there are no promises yet.
- Aspyr studio explained that porting to the original Switch would require cutting almost all visual effects, resulting in too many concessions and a compromised experience they were not willing to accept.
- Players find the decision controversial because the game released on Xbox 360 and Switch 2's performance is comparable to Xbox Series S.
Rise of the Tomb Raider: 20 Year Celebration has launched on Switch 2, but the absence of a 60fps option has raised eyebrows. Developers at Aspyr revealed that the original Switch's performance limitations would have required cutting essential visual effects, compromising the game's quality.1
The team spent months attempting to optimize the game for the original Switch, but concluded that it would not provide a stable experience. “We know there was interest in unlocking FPS, so we looked into the feature but the longer we spent on it the more obvious it became that the performance wouldn’t have been consistent enough to make players happy,” they stated.
Despite the Switch 2's capabilities being comparable to the Xbox Series S, players have expressed disappointment over the lack of 60fps. Aspyr noted that “the second part of the ‘Survival’ trilogy turned out to be too demanding on the GPU,” making it difficult to achieve the desired frame rate without significant sacrifices.8
While the developers have acknowledged fan requests for features like gyro controls, they remain non-committal, stating, “No promises, but we’re looking into it.” The decision to skip the original Switch port was made to preserve the immersive experience that players expect from the franchise.6
As the game is now available on Switch 2, Aspyr hopes to continue developing Tomb Raider titles for years to come.
“Aspyr has seen fan requests for gyro controls and is 'looking into it' though no promises have been made. Players find the 30fps cap controversial given the game ran on Xbox 360 while Switch 2's power rivals the Xbox Series S.”
ixbt.games
