It’s been more than ten years since Nintendo fans had a mainline F1 game. To find the series’ last entry on a Nintendo console you have to go all the way back to F1 2011 on the Nintendo 3DS. For the last vaguely sim racing entry you have to go back to 2022’s WRC 10 on the original Nintendo Switch.
That release demonstrated that sim racing could work on handheld consoles, despite the original Nintendo Switch’s limitations
Why Would the Nintendo Switch 2 Change Things?
As with any new console generation, the Nintendo Switch 2 improves in many notable areas including the chipset. Now alongside its all new Nvidia GPU and CPU, the upcoming Nintendo Switch 2 has been confirmed to include NVIDIA’s DLSS.
For those of you who might not be familiar, DLSS allows the console to run games at lower than native resolutions before then upscaling the image back to native. This significantly improves visual output and frame rates through advanced upscaling vs what the raw visual output would look like if simply rendered at a lower resolution than native.
Early previews of the Switch 2 featuring games like Cyberpunk 2077 on the Switch 2 developer kits indicate that the hardware can comfortably handle demanding games when utilizing this technology, raising hopes for traditionally intensive titles like F1 25. Furthering our hopes is that the previous title, F1 24, featured DLSS3.
How F1 25 Could Benefit from DLSS
The main challenges in porting detailed racing simulations such as F1 25 to handheld devices usually involve maintaining high visual fidelity and steady frame-rates. Typically sub 60 FPS experiences are not considered acceptable for sim games, but with the Switch 2’s upgraded hardware and DLSS support, these issues might be easier to overcome than many expect.
Codemasters has been reluctant to release recent F1 titles on Nintendo consoles due to these limitations, but due to the capabilities of the new Switch 2, this might change their stance.
Gavin Cooper, Creative Director for F1 25, recently commented in an interview with Traxion: “We need some smart people to look at it and see what the console can actually do and whether it’s actually a good fit for the kind of experience that F1 is.”
The Challenges That Still Exist
Despite the positives, the Switch 2 still faces potential limitations such as storage space and heat management. Many users might also find the controls to be frustrating on such a device.
It has been confirmed that the new Switch 2 will not feature analog triggers. We think this would make the precise throttle and brake inputs that are needed in such a title near impossible without a substantial assist or an almost entirely unique driving model to be implemented.
Final Thoughts: A Possibility Worth Exploring
With DLSS technology and upgraded hardware, the Switch 2 makes sim racing experiences like F1 25 more achievable than before, but there are still major concerns over the control interfaces.
While there are no official confirmations yet, Nintendo’s new console certainly presents an exciting possibility for racing game fans.