‘Doom,’ Makes Argument For Switch As Simultaneous Release Platform, Dev Says

By Brian Crecente

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – The Nintendo Switch could soon be the sort of platform that gets the same games at the same time as the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, according to the head of Panic Button Games.

And Adam Creighton, director of development and co-owner of the studio, should know, Panic Button has spent more time working on bringing big AAA titles from other platforms to the Switch than most. He says his studio has spent nearly six years working with Nintendo’s Switch hardware, including early development tech.

“We’ve been working on the hardware for a long time, almost six years,” he told

Variety

in a recent interview. “That’s more than almost any third party.”
During that time Panic Button released original work, but also were the team in charge of bringing “Rocket League,” “Doom,” and soon “Wolfenstein II” to Nintendo’s hybrid console. He said the company is working on another major port expected to be announced next month.

“With Bethesda, between ‘’ and ‘Wolfenstein II,’ they’ve shown you can put these games that are triple A on the hardware.”

When “Doom” hit the Switch it received a relatively positive score and post launch Panic Button helped to add multiplayer, motion controls and online parties post launch.

“‘Doom has been received very well,” Creighton said. “Zenimax is extremely happy with the external feedback.”

‘Wolfenstein II,’ due out later this month on the Switch, has been a different sort of challenge for the developers.

“We’re really pushing the engine forward and everything else,” Creighton said. “We’re trying to hold onto all of those visuals. We’re really proud with what we did.”

The game currently runs at 30 frames-per-second with variable resolution and features motion controls that have been refined since they were developed for “Doom,” he said.

Because “Wolfenstein II” supports dual wielding, the developers had to tinker with they way they implemented those controls. The result is something a bit more nuanced than “Doom’s” motion controls that gives players more options for fine-tuning.

“We believe it feels and plays really well,” he said.