We now have a little more of an idea of what the Switch 2 is capable of.
Thanks to YouTuber Deck Wizard, we got a good look at the graphics and video settings that are currently available on the Switch 2 demo build of Cyberpunk 2077. Impressively enough, CD Projekt RED took the build that they managed to put together in the first seven weeks of development to the showroom floor. Of course, they have gotten much further in development now since the game will be one of its launch titles.
These are Cyberpunk 2077’s graphics settings:
- Film Grain
- Chromatic Aberration
- Depth of Field
- Lens Flare
- Motion Blur
And these are the game’s video settings:
- HDR Mode
- Graphics Mode
To add further context, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt had these performance settings on the original Switch:
- Motion Blur
- Blur
- Bloom
- Sharpening
- Depth of Field
- Cutscene Depth of Field
- Light Shafts
- Underwater effects
- Foliage Visibility Range
- Anti-aliasing
CD Projekt RED had a relatively small range of settings available to change for The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt on the Switch, which certainly reflected the work they put into optimization. They would have already decided which of the other graphical effects were not worth modifying, and even which effects were unfeasible. For example, ray tracing was not supported on the Switch, so it wasn’t even considered.
The options available on the demo build of Cyberpunk 2077 clearly indicate that CD Projekt RED was able to get the port together in impressively quick order. A more complicated port may not even look presentable enough to show the public, much less already have graphics and video options.
We’ll leave it to gamers who have familiarized themselves with the intricacies of game performance to make their own conclusions about these particular settings. But the rest of Deck Wizard’s video definitely shows us that Switch 2 gamers will not be suffering from playing the same version of the game that was out at launch on all platforms. With its optimization, it will likely also be a better overall experience, in terms of long term play and especially on the go, compared to what’s possible on the Steam Deck and Windows based gaming handhelds.
And once again, we aren’t arguing this in terms of framerate or graphical effects. But CD Projekt RED is doing bespoke work for the Switch 2 version of the game that takes advantage of everything that’s on the console. It’s even more specialized than the work that they put onto the game to get it Steam Deck Verified, and Nintendo will make sure that that work takes into account things like eye fatigue on the Switch 2’s screen and battery life.
You can watch Deck Wizard’s full video of the Cyberpunk 2077 Switch 2 demo below.
