Resident Evil 7 Is Coming To Nintendo Switch With A Few Caveats

Here's a protip if you haven't already played Resident Evil 7 but plan on doing so—the game is best played at night with the lights turn off, and with the volume cranked up. That is, if you like a good scare. As to which platform to play on, we tend to favor the PC around these parts, though it's also available on the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, and surprise, surprise, Capcom just announced it's headed to the Nintendo Switch as well.

It will be yet another top-tier title to land on the Switch, adding to its growing catalog of games, which was our biggest complaint when the hybrid console launched—outside of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, the Switch debuted with a relatively weak lineup of games. Nintendo and its partners have since addressed that initial shortcoming, and continue to do so, with Resident Evil 7 adding to what's now a fun and varied lineup.


That said, there are a couple of caveats with Resident Evil 7's launch on the Switch. For one, it will only be available in Japan, at least at the outset. It's not clear if Capcom will deliver a US port at some point, but for the time being, it has only been announced in Japan. We also don't know if there will be an English-language option.

The other caveat is that it's being released as a streaming game. That means gamers will not be able to play Resident Evil 7 directly from their Switch, and instead will need a persistent Internet connection to stream the title from Capcom's servers. It could be that Capcom is using Resident Evil 7 as a test for its streaming capabilities, and if there is any interest in that approach.

We'd rather see a full release, especially since the Switch offers expandable storage by way of a microSD card slot. Still, for Switch owners in Japan who have not already played Resident Evil 7, it might be worth checking out. The asking price is 2000 yen (around $18) for a 180 day "ticket," with a 15-minute free trial available. Since it's a cloud game, not much space is required—just approximately 45MB, according to the spec sheet.