Many fans were excited for Genshin Impact to be released on the Switch in the past, though now it may not be worth it at this point in the game's lifetime. Given Genshin Impact's massive success, and appeal to both casual and hardcore gaming audiences alike, a Nintendo Switch port of the game seemed like an obvious choice. A Switch port of Genshin Impact would bring the game to new audiences and seems like a smart move on the surface. However, due to the amount of content the game has, moving it to Switch may cause more problems than it solves.
So far, Genshin Impact is playable on Android, IOS, PlayStation, and Windows, covering a wide and diverse variety of systems. Despite many reassurances in the past from HoYoverse that the game will eventually come to the Switch, no new information for the port has been shared.
Genshin Impact Is Not Easy For New Players
With so many patches, each bringing huge amounts of content and characters to the table, Genshin Impact on the Switch would have an extremely difficult time attracting new players. Each Archon Quest chapter alone can take players anywhere from 15–20 hours to complete, totaling around 60–80 hours to complete all four parts. On top of this, new events, characters, zones, side-quests, and domains will be added to the game as new players attempt to catch up with Genshin Impact's main story. For new players, especially those who can only contribute a little time to the game daily, this is extremely overwhelming.
Honkai: Star Rail May Be A Better Choice Than Genshin Impact
Although it may be too late for Genshin Impact's Switch release to appeal to newer audiences, a much stronger decision may be to bring HoYoverse's game, Honkai: Star Rail to the Nintendo Switch instead. This would be the perfect way to bring a new audience to the game, without overwhelming players by overloading them with over two years of content and information. With the game already set to run on Mobile platforms, porting to the Switch doesn't seem like too much of a stretch, though many players originally believed this about Genshin Impact as well.
Despite the Switch no longer seeming like a strong choice for new players of the game, it could introduce a new way for long-term players to experience Genshin Impact's best characters and story. Though portability is nothing new for the series, having the larger screen of the Switch may be a good reason to use the system over traditional mobile platforms. In the end however, even if Genshin Impact never releases on the Switch, a large number of players can continue to enjoy the game portably on Mobile devices, or at home on PC and PlayStation.
