Modern Warfare 4 on Switch 2 is a Double-Edged Sword

After a long eleven years, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 is bringing the franchise back to Nintendo consoles, launching day-and-date on the Switch 2 to the delight of many fans of the handheld console. This marks the first time a Call of Duty game has been officially supported on a portable device since the Nintendo DS, and the first on a Nintendo console at all since Call of Duty: Ghosts in 2013. However, while Modern Warfare 4 being on a whole new console sounds great, it does come with a few drawbacks for the wider playerbase.

The Switch 2 may be a powerful console, but it still doesn’t hold a candle to what the PS5 and Xbox Series X can do, and that might pose a few problems for Modern Warfare 4. As the first current-gen-only Call of Duty game, fans may have some expectations for what MW4 should look and run like now that the game is only optimized for current consoles, and perhaps the Switch 2 will hold it back from its true potential. Moreover, given the Switch 2’s specs and recent rumors about which platforms Modern Warfare 4 would be on raise questions about whether this is even a true current-gen title at all.

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Call of Duty’s Troubled History With Nintendo

Call of Duty is no stranger to being on Nintendo consoles, even if it has been dodging them for over a decade now. The franchise took several detours to the Nintendo DS and Wii throughout its early eras, including ports of Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, World at War, and Modern Warfare 2, to mixed results. Nintendo consoles of that time weren’t known for their conventional controller schemes, so playing an FPS on something like the Wii or DS was always a bit awkward compared to other consoles with traditional controllers. However, Nintendo’s Call of Duty ports dropped regardless until a pivotal moment for both Nintendo and Call of Duty occurred.

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The franchise eventually saw its last release on Nintendo consoles with Call of Duty: Ghosts in 2013. Ghosts was a low point for the Call of Duty series, as it marked the franchise’s first next-gen game, and fans declared it looked ugly and washed out, not befitting next-gen console features. This is where a significant split occurred between Nintendo and Call of Duty, as the FPS behemoth chased better graphics and more complex mechanics with bigger game modes in its next iterations, while Nintendo consoles were left in the dust as the Wii U’s sales tanked, and the console couldn’t keep up with the demands of newer games like the fully PS4/Xbox One Advanced Warfare. Not even the first Switch, which launched in 2017, would be enough for the Call of Duty franchise to come back to Nintendo, given the Switch’s relatively weak hardware.

Modern Warfare 4 on the Switch 2 Brings the Franchise to New Heights with New Novelties

However, the Switch 2 is now here, and it is quite a powerful system relative to its size and power limitations. Now, more than ever, companies that once had games that were perhaps too advanced for the first Switch are finding their way to the Switch 2. For example, where The Witcher 3 running on the Switch 1 was something of a small coding miracle, while CD Projekt Red’s Cyberpunk 2077 not only runs but thrives on the Switch 2 thanks to DLSS upscaling and clever coding. The same goes for massive, gorgeous games like Star Wars: Outlaws and Assassin’s Creed: Shadows that never had a shot at running on the Switch 1 but do well on the Switch 2. It definitely seems like a new era for Nintendo, and it’s one that developers are happy to come aboard with for obvious reasons.

The upsides of Modern Warfare 4 on the Switch 2 are clear: the console has a huge install base ready to spend money on a new Call of Duty, it’s powerful enough to run intensive games without many issues, and the shared player pool for multiplayer and Warzone is going to be even bigger than before. And if nothing else, it is a super novel experience to be able to play Call of Duty on the go. Not even the Steam Deck can claim to have Call of Duty on its list of supported games due to anti-cheat issues on SteamOS, putting the Switch 2 in a unique position as one of the only portable consoles that can run Modern Warfare 4 (and at a more reasonable price compared to the Deck and ROG Ally).

The Switch 2 Transition Gives Modern Warfare 4 Some Hard Limitations

Call of Duty Modern Warfare 4 Campaign Length Interview

Up to this point, it is easy to sing the praises of the Switch 2 as a powerful handheld console that can run anything, anywhere, at any time, and while that has been true to an extent, it’s not that powerful. Compared to the PS5 and Xbox Series X, the Switch 2 is fairly weak, with many of the aforementioned ports needing tweaks to run well on the system in the first place. Switch 2 fans should definitely expect Modern Warfare 4 to look like a downgrade on the system compared to other current-gen consoles; however, the knock-on effect of having to port to Switch 2 is that the game might not live up to its true potential on PS5 and Xbox Series X.

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Fans should probably temper their expectations for significant visual improvements in this year’s Modern Warfare 4 due to the Switch 2’s hardware limitations. Early MW4 gameplay previews already prove as much, showing minimal improvements to visuals compared to recent entries in the series, but that does mean it’s still a good-looking game. However, don’t expect things like model quality, texture resolution, physics, and volumetric effects to see any huge improvements as Infinity Ward develops with the limitations of the Switch 2’s CPU and memory pool. That’s not to say next year’s Call of Duty won’t look amazing or can’t push the envelope, but this year’s entry is clearly an introductory, transitional one for the Switch 2 and current consoles, which means that total visual overhauls are probably not on the docket as Infinity Ward figures out how to best optimize the existing engine for a new development environment.

Modern Warfare 4 Could Have Probably Been on Last Gen Consoles

Call of Duty Modern Warfare 4 Private Park

Recently, it was rumored that MW4 would come to last-gen consoles, which would make sense given the current state of the market. Consoles are expensive right now, and there are still tons of people hanging on to their PS4s and Xbox Ones if they can, meaning that there is still money to be made on those platforms. However, the recent MW4 reveal event clarified that this year’s Call of Duty would be a current-gen-only game, but given the power limitations of the Switch 2, it’s a wonder why MW4 isn’t on last gen. After all, the Switch 2 is closer in power to a PS4 than a PS5. Given the circumstances outlined, it’s easy to believe that those last-gen rumors were probably true, and that the game is coming out only on current-gen for reasons beyond performance considerations.

MW4 likely isn’t coming to last-gen because Xbox and Activision may want to market it as a current-gen game to drive more current-gen sales as Microsoft moves to what’s next for the company. Xbox’s Project Helix is stirring, which means this generation of consoles is nearing the end of its life, as crazy as that sounds, so it would probably be smart to phase out older consoles in preparation for the upcoming next-gen systems. Fans can’t hang on to their old consoles forever, and this moment had to come at some point. Sure, there is a good chance that a last-gen build of MW4 exists, but current conditions mean the closest fans will get to seeing a PS4 or Xbox One version of Modern Warfare 4 is likely the Nintendo Switch 2 version. Still, for fans wanting a current-gen only CoD that actually feels current-gen, MW4‘s Switch 2 port will likely prevent that from happening this time around.