FIFA on Nintendo Switch going without Frostbite and The Journey

Third parties already face an uphill battle selling on Nintendo hardware but putting out inferior products to those they also release on other systems plays a role as well. EA Sports is only releasing one game on the Nintendo Switch this year and it’ll be missing two of the most promoted features found on Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC.

Whether it ends up being called “FIFA 18” or as it was first announced “FIFA on Nintendo Switch” it won’t be the same game as those others. As rumored when initially unveiled back in February, the game won’t utilize the Frostbite engine which was introduced last year, and that also means it won’t have the hugely popular story mode known as The Journey which will be entering its second season with main character Alex Hunter. It’s also quite possible it’ll be missing other features which will be discovered later – though in turn it could offer some that are exclusive to the system based on its unique capabilities instead.

The biggest selling point for FIFA on Switch will certainly be its portability. That may end up being enough for some. But those who really care about the FIFA series are unlikely to go back in time for what amounts to an older version of the game when they’ll have a better looking, playing, and fully featured option elsewhere for the same price.

Ultimately this could be a no-win situation for consumers. If the game does poorly the company may simply drop support completely as they did with the Wii U. If it does fairly well they may feel that they can continue to put out editions of games that aren’t up to the level of those on the other systems. The saving grace is that the Switch has clearly caught on with consumers in much better fashion than the Wii U, and if it’s found to have a base of people who’ll buy software that isn’t limited to Nintendo’s IPs then third parties will work harder to try and get a cut of that.