Resident Evil 7 Comes To The Switch, But Just Through The Cloud

Playing Resident Evil 7 on the Switch is a dream for a lot of players and it seems this dream is coming through in a roundabout way. Yes, the game will soon become available on the Nintendo portable console hybrid. Unfortunately, it will be as a streamed title and that puts something like an on-the-go fright session next to impossible right now.

There are several aspects to this news to unpack, starting with the fact that the total download size of the game will only be 45MB to make it playable, as Kotaku notes. This is basically the client for the reboot of the zombie horror franchise, which would then allow players to stream it using cloud-sharing technology.

What’s more, the game will cost only about $20, which is significantly cheaper than the $60 that it did at launch for other platforms. Then again, considering the likely downgraded graphical features, along with the inconvenience of needing an internet connection to play it, the price might just be understandable.

There’s also the fact that streaming games is currently still in its infancy. It requires strong, stable internet connection so that the experience doesn’t feel too stutter, and this isn’t even counting the possibilities of server issues affecting players. It’s basically like putting up with similar problems found in MMORPGs but in what is supposed to be a single-player game.

As Gamasutra notes, this is basically an experiment that Capcom will be conducting with one of its most prominent properties. Players won’t be able to purchase the game directly but rather, they’ll be buying something called a “play ticket.”

This ticket will provide players with 180 days to access the game. Once the timer expires, gamers will need to buy another ticket if they want to keep playing the game. It’s like a subscription basis and an arcade business model rolled into one.