According to XDA-Developers, Bloober Team CEO Piotr Babieno has confirmed the studio will “absolutely” support the Nintendo Switch 2 for “years to come.” This commitment follows the recent launch of Layers of Fear: The Final Masterpiece Edition on the console last week, which joins their earlier port of Cronos – The New Dawn. Babieno, a longtime Nintendo fan who once ran Poland’s largest Nintendo-focused website, revealed the ports are done with external partner Pixel Ant Games. He teased a “major surprise planned soon” related to Nintendo platforms, though gave no details. The CEO also noted that keeping Unreal Engine 5’s Lumen lighting enabled on the Switch 2 was key to preserving the game’s look, and that player expectations for visual fidelity are now much higher than on the original Switch.
Why This Matters for Switch 2
Here’s the thing: third-party support, especially from studios known for more graphically intense games, has always been a bit of a question mark for Nintendo handhelds. Bloober Team isn’t a AAA giant, but they’re a serious player in the horror space, and their vocal, technical commitment is a big vote of confidence. It signals to other mid-tier developers that the Switch 2 is a viable platform for modern engines like UE5, not just a machine for scaled-back cloud versions or last-gen ports.
And Babieno’s point about expectations is huge. On the original Switch, players tolerated a lot for portability. Now? They want that next-gen experience in their hands. Bloober’s effort to keep features like Lumen running shows they’re trying to meet that bar, not just make a functional port. That’s the kind of support Nintendo needs to shake the “underpowered” narrative that sometimes dogged the first Switch.
The Horror Niche and Nintendo
This is also a smart play for Bloober. Babieno mentions the “unique sense of intimacy” of playing on a handheld. He’s right. Playing a horror game in bed or on a couch with headphones is a profoundly different, often more intense, experience than on a big TV. The Switch 2, with its improved screen and sound, could become a surprisingly ideal horror machine.
Think about it. Until Resident Evil: Requiem arrives next year, Bloober’s games are basically the only current-gen horror shows in town on this console. They’re carving out a niche as the go-to horror dev for Nintendo fans. That’s valuable branding. It builds a loyal audience that will likely follow them to their future projects, like the much-anticipated Silent Hill 2 remake.
What’s the “Major Surprise”?
Okay, so what’s this “major surprise” Babieno teased? The safe money is on a shadow-drop of an older Bloober title, like The Medium or Observer, for Switch 2. But I think there’s a more interesting possibility. Could it be something exclusive? A new chapter or story for Layers of Fear, timed for its tenth anniversary next year? Or maybe a partnership with Nintendo on something entirely new?
It probably won’t be their Silent Hill project—that’s a Konami show. But the tease is clearly meant to keep Nintendo fans looking directly at Bloober Team. They’re not just a port studio; they want to be seen as creative partners in the ecosystem. You can check out the Switch 2 version of Layers of Fear on Nintendo’s site, and its OpenCritic page shows a decent 74/100 average.
The Bigger Picture
So, why does this all matter beyond one studio’s strategy? It’s about precedent. Bloober is demonstrating that with the right partner (shoutout to Pixel Ant Games) and enough time with the dev kits, you can bring a demanding, atmospheric UE5 game to the Switch 2 without completely gutting it. That’s a proof of concept other developers will study.
Babieno says he “can’t imagine” developing games without the platform now. That’s the kind of loyalty Nintendo loves. In an era where multi-platform releases are the norm, having dedicated, enthusiastic partners who understand the hardware’s unique strengths—like motion controls, touchscreen, and HDR—is a huge asset. It basically ensures the Switch 2’s library will have quality horror titles for its entire lifecycle. And for gamers, that’s nothing but good news.
