After spending roughly a year in Early Access on Steam, Hades 2 is set to hit 1.0 with a full launch sometime in 2025 for PC players. On console, however, Supergiant Games has confirmed the colorful isometric roguelike will be coming first to Nintendo’s platforms, with a window of exclusivity on Switch 1 and 2.
Shown during last week’s Switch 2 Direct running at a crisp, smooth 60fps, Hades 2 “is coming first on console to both Nintendo Switch and Nintendo Switch 2,” a page on Nintendo’s website confirms. If the timed console exclusivity was still in doubt, a new “Creator’s Voice” microdocumentary of Supergiant Games by Nintendo published on YouTube on Tuesday reiterated it with the phrasing “launching first for consoles on Nintendo Switch 2.”
The indie studio’s developers also talk about how important Switch 1 was for Hades 1's success and how the Switch 2 will make it an even quicker, crunchier combat experience. While the first game targeted 60fps on Switch, there were occasional dips. It sounds like that won’t be an issue on Switch 2, and the new hardware will also support much quicker load times.
Since the video is specifically showing off how Hades 2 will benefit from the Switch 2's more powerful hardware, I assume the absence of Switch 1 being mentioned is just a marketing copy decision, and not an indication that Hades 2 will have “next-gen” timed exclusivity within the Switch family of consoles as well. When did simply trying to announce information about your upcoming game get so confusing?
The lowkey timed exclusivity window has also had some PC players, who have already been playing the Early Access version and each of its subsequent balancing patches and content expansions, worried that the PC launch might somehow be delayed behind Hades 2’s arrival on Switch 1 and 2. While I’m not sure that Supergiant has explicitly stated anywhere that that’s not the case, it seems too brutal of a betrayal to fathom. “Anyway Supergiant are the goat they would never do such thing,” wrote one player in the Hades 2 Discord this morning amid the confusion.
Kotaku has reached out to Supergiant for clarification.
What remains to be seen, however, is if there will be a distinct Switch 2 Edition of Hades 2 with different features or performance perks, or if players who buy the game on either system will get to enjoy the same game at the same price point, even if it runs better on the newer hardware. All of the Switch 2 Editions of other games that Nintendo has showcased so far include $10 or $20 upgrades to unlock the new content and bonus features, like QR codes for player creations in the case of The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. Hopefully that’s not the case for Hades 2.
Update 4/9/2025 12:39 p.m. ET: Supergiant Games creative director Greg Kasavin confirmed to Kotaku that Hades 2 will hit PC, Switch 1, and Switch 2 concurrently when it reaches 1.0 later this year following “at least one more Major Update in Early Access to complete first.”
When asked whether Hades 2 will be the same version on both Switch 1 and 2 he said the Switch 2 version “will have enhancements for that platform, notably that it will run at 1080p instead of 720p for the original Nintendo Switch,” but declined to address whether those enhancements will mean the game is more expensive on the new hardware. “We will have additional details closer to launch,” he said.
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