Doom, Wolfenstein II and Honor of Kings boost Switch third-party line-up
Bethesda shows its commitment, while Tencent is bringing China's most popular game to the platform as Arena of Valor
Nintendo has bolstered the Switch third-party line-up, adding high-profile titles like Doom, Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus and Arena of Valor - also know as Honor of Kings, the most popular game in China.
A Nintendo Direct this morning included both announcements and updates on more than 40 games for Switch and 3DS, but the arrival of Bethesda's Doom and Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus were arguably the biggest surprises.
Bethesda is also releasing Skyrim on Switch - and its launch date was confirmed as November 17 - but Doom launched a full five years later, and was one of the most visually impressive games on Xbox One and PlayStation 4 at the time. Bethesda confirmed to Polygon that the Switch version, which will launch "this holiday," will include the entire single-player campaign with multiplayer released as a separate download. However, users will not be able to create their own maps, as the SnapMap feature will not be included.
Less is known about the Switch version of Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus, but it's notable that one of the most anticipated shooters of the holiday season will also be launching for Nintendo's console - albeit several months behind, with only a vague launch window of "2018" offered.
Perhaps the most quietly significant announcement was the Arena of Valor beta, which will begin before the end of the year. Originally published by Tencent in China as Honor of Kings, Arena of Valor is currently the most popular game in the world's biggest games market, and this will be its console debut.
In Tencent's first fiscal quarter, it is estimated to have earned $800 million in revenue from an audience of around 55 million DAUs, proving so popular that the Chinese government applied pressure for Tencent to limit the amount of time children spent playing the game.
On the first-party side, while the Switch's Virtual Console service still hasn't launched, Nintendo announced a new program called Arcade Archives, which will bring some of the company's classic Eighties arcade games to the platform.
The first title, Vs. Mario Bros., will be released on September 27, with Vs. Super Mario Bros, Vs. Balloon Fight, Vs. Ice Climber, Vs. Pinball, Vs. Clu Clu Land and Vs. Punch-Out!! To follow.
Nintendo also revealed a new bundle to coincide with the launch of Super Mario Odyssey on October 27. The bundle includes the Switch, a download code for Mario Odyssey, themed Joy-Con controllers and a carry case for $379.99.