According to reports, the Nintendo Switch 2 is struggling to run two highly-anticipated blockbuster titles.
Earlier this year it was confirmed that a number of popular third-party games would finally be available to Nintendo fans thanks to the bigger, more powerful Switch 2. According to early previews though, both Elden Ring and Borderlands 4 are a “disappointment” on the handheld console.
As it stands, Elden Ring is set to launch at some point this year for the Nintendo Switch 2 while Borderlands 4 will drop October 3, almost a full month after the sequel releases on rival consoles.
At Gamescom last week, fans and journalists got a chance to try out Switch 2 versions of both games early. “Borderlands 4 on the Switch 2 could barely run at 30fps with four enemies on screen in docked mode. It had horrendous input delay and the render resolution was seemingly turned all the way down,” wrote YouTuber EpicNNG. However others have defended the game, saying they only noticed a few “hiccups” with the graphics but nothing as major as the issues the Switch version of Borderlands 3 had. “It looks and runs fine,” said another fan.
Borderlands 4 docked (TV) footage on Nintendo Switch 2. Looks and runs fine!
Full video:https://t.co/3XTtl6rUUQ pic.twitter.com/8XJihoEFng
— Croc Oclock (@CrocOclock) August 25, 2025
According to IGN, they came away “very disappointed” with the performance of Elden Ring “especially when in the open areas like Limgrave. Frame rate drops were significant when turning the camera whilst exploring outside of the tutorial area, and this, combined with a confusing button layout on Switch 2, made combat confusing and exploration fairly dispiriting. We weren’t allowed to record gameplay at the booth, probably due to this fact,” they explained in a preview before calling it a “disaster”.
Some fans broke the rules and captured footage of the demo, with others saying the negative reports have been “exaggerated”.
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Earlier this year, Cyberpunk 2077 launched on the Nintendo Switch 2 and received a mixed response from fans due to it performing slightly worse than it does on Xbox, PlayStation and PC.
Gearbox boss Randy Pitchford has confirmed that the Switch 2 version of Borderlands 4 won’t look as polished as it does on other consoles. “It was important to us to not cut anything and to support cross play with other platforms. So, no. It’ll be mostly around 30 fps, with some dips in some intense moments such as heavy combat or if hosting a multiplayer game in handheld mode, etc,” he explained.
Responding to criticism that Borderlands 3 is still “unplayable” on the Switch, Pitchford said: “Borderlands 3 was not made for Switch 2. I want us to get on that and see what we can do. We need some help and we need some time. Borderlands 4 is everything right now.”
In other news, Hollow Knight: Silksong is finally set to launch next month but other game developers are delaying their titles to avoid competing with the “Grand Theft Auto 6 of indie games”.
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