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Resident Evil 2, 3 and 4 Launch Native on Nintendo Switch 2

Capcom has swapped the cloud-streamed Switch versions for native Switch 2 ports of all three games, with Resident Evil 4 making its handheld debut and a launch discount running through early November.

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The Games Desk · (2 hours ago)

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Key art for Resident Evil 4 Gold Edition on Nintendo Switch 2 showing Leon Kennedy
Key art for Resident Evil 4 Gold Edition on Nintendo Switch 2 showing Leon KennedyPhoto via Notebookcheck

Capcom put three Resident Evil games on the Nintendo Switch 2 eShop on Thursday, and for the first time, none of them need a server connection to run.

Resident Evil 2 Deluxe Edition, Resident Evil 3 and Resident Evil 4 Gold Edition are all native Switch 2 titles as of October 16, 2026. The first two had only existed on the original Switch as cloud versions, streaming gameplay from a remote server rather than running on the hardware itself. Those cloud editions are staying on the eShop for anyone who prefers them, or anyone who already owns one, since Capcom says save data from the cloud versions won't carry over to the new downloads.

Resident Evil 4 is the bigger deal here. It never had a Switch release of any kind, cloud or otherwise, so this is the first time Leon Kennedy's trip to rural Spain has been playable on Nintendo hardware without routing through a server.

Third-party technical breakdowns published a day ahead of launch, on October 15, give a sense of how each game performs. All three are built around a 60 FPS target. Resident Evil 2 and Resident Evil 3, originally designed with PS4 in mind, hold that number more reliably. Resident Evil 4 gets there most of the time but drops into the 50s, and into the 40s during busier encounters, with handheld play commonly sitting in the 40 to 50 FPS range according to those analyses.

The same reporting pegs Resident Evil 4's render resolution at roughly 540p docked and 360p handheld, upscaled with Nvidia's DLSS. The visual target lands closer to the original PS4 release than the PS5 version, with screen-space reflections dropped, softer volumetric lighting, and thinner foliage, though textures reportedly look sharper than they did on PS4.

Each game is a separate purchase, and there's no bundle. On the US eShop, Resident Evil 2 Deluxe Edition is $39.99, Resident Evil 3 is $29.99, and Resident Evil 4 Gold Edition is $49.99. An early adopter discount running through November 7, 2026, cuts those to $29.99, $19.79 and $39.99. Capcom hasn't announced Indian pricing or availability for these Switch 2 releases.

File sizes matter more on a handheld. Resident Evil 2 needs 14 GB, Resident Evil 3 needs 12.9 GB, and Resident Evil 4 Gold Edition is the heavyweight at 29 GB, putting the full set at just under 56 GB. Anyone running low on storage will want a microSD Express card.

The Deluxe and Gold labels aren't just marketing. Resident Evil 4 Gold Edition includes the Separate Ways campaign, though Resident Evil Resistance, the online multiplayer mode that shipped alongside Resident Evil 3 on other platforms, isn't part of this release.

Physical copies are coming January 29, 2027, according to Capcom's listings, but the company hasn't said whether buyers will get a full game cartridge or a game-key card that still requires a download. That detail, along with any word on pricing outside the US, is the thing to watch before the holiday window closes out.

Resident Evil 2 Deluxe Edition, Resident Evil 3, Resident Evil 4 Gold Edition on our upcoming launches listEvery phone and gadget on the way, with confirmed and expected datesOpen →

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Written by the Hitechreports desk from the reporting credited above, with facts attributed to their original publishers. We do not test devices ourselves; anything about performance, battery life or cameras comes from the outlets that did. Prices are as reported at the time of writing. Editorial policy · Report an error

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