Axiom Verge 2 has been confirmed as a launch exclusive for the Nintendo Switch, which is great news for handheld gaming fans.
It’s similar to the deal with the original title which launched first on the PS4, before arriving on other platforms later.
Axiom Verge eventually arrived on the Wii U, PC and PS Vita, but it took a full year of waiting.
And now it’s the turn of the Nintendo Switch to do the same, this time imposing its own exclusivity period.
And details are still thin on the ground, with Axiom Verge 2 having only just been announced during a Nintendo Indie live stream event.
A recent interview provided more on the situation, although nothing that goes past the initial details of the game’s launch.
Verge 2 developer Thomas Happ told USGamer: “The Switch was kind of a natural platform to start with this time around.
“It seems as though every few years platforms shift in terms of popularity of indies and at the moment the Switch is really the best place for it.
“Axiom Verge’s sales on Switch are still doing pretty well, whereas it’s slowed down on the other platforms.
“It also helps that the Switch is the lowest spec of them all so I can be guaranteed that if I develop on Switch, the same thing will run elsewhere without making sacrifices.
“I’d sort of decided on this internally when the Switch was first announced. I was scrambling trying to get the specs from Nintendo so I could make sure the game resolution was compatible with the handheld screen resolution without having to blur or stretch it.”
There’s no doubt that Indie games on the Nintendo Switch have proven massively popular with console owners.
The design of the Switch makes it perfect to run low-spec games that are easy for the hardware to handle.
It makes it possible to be able to pick up your Nintendo Switch and put it down, while leaving your games running.
And as for Axiom Verge 2 arriving on other platforms like the PS4 and Xbox One, Happ isn’t able to to say much.
“I can’t really talk about where you’ll see Axiom Verge 2 other than the Switch,” he added.
“That said, it took several years before Axiom Verge reached every platform, and that worked out pretty well since each time I could devote all my energy to whatever platform it was currently releasing on.”
Fans of the first game will be hoping for as short a wait as possible and as mentioned above, can be safe in the knowledge that no downscaling will be required.
For now, Axiom Verge 2 has a release date set for 2020, probably around October or November time.
There is no reason to believe we won’t see something arrive on other platforms in the future, but it appears Nintendo Switch will have bragging rights for at least a short time.
For more on Axiom Verge 2, you can read the official description posted online following its announcement, below:
“You may have played Axiom Verge, or heard it referenced as a benchmark for indie “metroidvania” adventures. Axiom Verge 2 is part of the same story as Axiom Verge 1 but is a completely new game: new characters, new powers, new enemies, and a new world. You can play it before or after the original.
“Meet Indra, the mysterious billionaire behind the worldwide Globe 3 conglomerate. What is this world she’s found? Who are the voices that seem to be calling to her?
“Hiding in a cargo lift in Antarctica is what appears to be an ancient, alternate Earth, complete with mountains, lakes, deserts, and the ruins of a civilization.
“But you get the feeling that something else is lurking just past the fringes of reality, waiting to pull you in.”