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Panic Button know Switch titles. The studio is responsible for bringing hits like Rocket League, Doom and Wolfenstein II to Nintendo’s hybrid console.
MCV spoke to Adam Creighton, Panic Button’s general manager and co-founder, about Switch development at E3 shortly after Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aimé told The Verge that titles releasing on the Switch should start seeing release closer to their counterparts on other consoles:
“The development cycle today is multiple years," said Fils-Aimé. "So I would argue that beginning at the end of this year, or next year, that gap will have closed. Because key developers have had the development systems, they’ll have been working to create content for our platform from the beginning. That’s what is going to close that time gap.”
Creighton, and Panic Button, is one of those key developers, so we put the question to him: as more and more Triple-A releases are coming to the Switch, will things speed up?
"I think what’s interesting is that it has to be a prioritisation for the publisher and developer," Creighton says. "For me I want these companies to look at the Nintendo Switch as an equal platform that they release on as they release their game and the earlier they get either internal teams or external outfits like Panic Button involved, the higher the chance we’re going to get day and date parity for big releases.
"For example, if you look at DOOM which was finished and shipped to people when development started for the Nintendo Switch version, and that game comes out sixteen months later for Switch. then you see Wolfenstein II, where we get involved as the game is in development and almost done, this game comes out less than eight months after releasing. I see that window shrinking all the time for those publishers and developers who are planning on Switch at the outset."
While day and date releases may still be a few years off at this stage, and developing for the Switch can be complex, involving taking into account different hardware and the Switch’s ability to go from docked to handheld instantly, it’s good to see Triple-A releases may start shipping sooner for Ninty’s little black box.
