Can I play Diablo 4 on Nintendo Switch?

Right now, no, you cannot play Diablo 4 on the Nintendo Switch. You can’t play Diablo 4 anywhere, in fact, as the game is not out yet. So far, the game has been announced for PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One — but we don’t even know for sure what consoles will even exist when it does come out.

Possible platforms for Diablo 4

It could well be a cross-gen game hitting the PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and whatever the next Xbox console is named — the working title is Project Scarlett but we have no idea if that will in fact be the name when it goes live. But despite the fact we know Diablo 4 isn’t releasing any time soon, but it still hasn’t been announced for the next-generation consoles coming out late next year. It’s possible support for PS5 and Scarlett will arrive down the road, much the way Diablo 3 was initially launched on PS3 and Xbox 360 and later made it to PS4 and Xbox One.

Now, the Switch is a very popular console and we’ve seen both Diablo 3 and Overwatch make the leap to the hybrid portable/home gaming system, it’s not surprising that people are thinking that it may see a Diablo 4 port as well. Even with the presence of those games on the Switch, however, it might not be as simple to get Diablo 4 on there as we might think.

Not all games run well on Switch

First up, the Switch simply isn’t as powerful as the PS4 or the Xbox One. Games that run on those consoles at or near 60 FPS are not so fortunate on the Switch — Overwatch, for example which doesn’t run very well on the Switch, especially on portable mode. From what we’ve seen, Diablo 4 is going to be significantly more demanding visually than Diablo 3, which is at this point a seven year old game. This doesn’t mean it will be impossible for the Switch to keep up, but it’s going to be at a disadvantage, especially when we consider our next problem.

Part of the performance hit that Overwatch takes is related to its always-online nature, one that Diablo 4 is absolutely going to share. That’s still not a reason to expect that the game won’t turn up there, but it is worth keeping in mind, as are issues like cross-platform play, something Blizzard has said they’d like to do for Diablo 4. Cross-platform between the Switch and other consoles, much less PC, would be something that would require a good deal of work.

Will Diablo 4 be playable on Nintendo Switch?

In the end, the answer to can I play Diablo 4 on the Switch? remains not right now. The game hasn’t been announced for the Switch — yet. But Blizzard’s recent enthusiasm for the console may well mean we’ll see it running on the Switch at launch.