Hades 2 may still be in early access, but it's already one of the best roguelikes you can play right now. That is, if you’re a PC player. For the console crowd, only those playing on Nintendo’s handhelds can help the princess of the dead defeat the Titan of time, at least for now.
Supergiant Games confirmed that Hades 2 will be a Nintendo Switch and Switch 2 exclusive whenever it launches. The team announced this on X, alongside the release of a Nintendo-produced behind-the-scenes minidoc called “Creator’s Voice.” The developer hasn’t yet announced when the full version of the game will be released, but said that it will have an update on the game’s ongoing development later this year.
During the Switch 2 reveal event last week, Hades writer and designer Greg Kasavin tells Inverse that Nintendo’s eight-year-old handheld was always in mind when developing the sequel, as it was the console that its award-winning predecessor debuted on as well.
“Hades 2 is now more than four years in development, so we didn't know that the Switch 2 was going to be a thing,” he says. “But we were thinking about the original Nintendo Switch from the early days of Hades 2 development. We wanted to make sure that no matter what we did graphically and technically, it would still run super well on the original hardware.”
So when the team caught wind of the Switch 2 from Nintendo, it made porting the sequel so much easier. There are just a handful of improvements over the original Switch version, but those differences are substantial. The Switch 2 will run the game at 1080p on its larger, brighter LCD screen, as opposed to 720p on the original Switch. It also features some improvements to the graphical fidelity. Kasavin says the upgrade “actually makes a pretty remarkable difference.”
“Even compared to the Steam Deck, which is a really impressive device in its own right, it's like, ‘Whoa, this looks right,’” he explained.
The improvement doesn’t mean the original Switch version will be compromised in any way. It will still run at a buttery smooth 60 frames per second like the original.
“Overall, our philosophy is that any version of the game should feel like it’s the best,” Kasavin reassures us. “You shouldn’t feel like you're getting an inferior version of the game just because you’re playing on the old hardware.”
While it will take advantage of the Switch 2’s improved horsepower, it won’t incorporate the handheld’s new mouse capabilities, as the team found it wasn’t “a great fit” for this version of the game.
“We have mouse and keyboard controls on the PC version, but they don’t have the keyboard part with the Switch,” he says. “We found the joystick movement plus mouse aiming is pretty awkward for us. It’s not something we’re planning to continue to pursue.”
For Hades 2, Supergiant wants to improve on the original in one key way for those who are obsessed with its world, satisfying combat, and secrets.
“For the original Hades, we were taken aback that some players stuck with it for longer than we initially imagined,” Kasavin said. “So we know going into this one that players would, some players would want to engage with it that way. So it’s important to us that there be a lot to this one. A lot of characters to meet, a lot to explore, a lot to discover.”
“It's not a game that you need to play for 1000 hours to have an enjoyable experience out of it,” he continued. “But if you wish to keep going, you can do that too. It was an interesting challenge with [the first Hades], and once again with this one, knowing that players might play it for a really long time. How do we make that potentially interesting for them? That's the question for us, and that’s why it takes a long time.”
We’re closer to the 1.0 launch than not. Kasavin says Hades 2 has at least one more major update left in early access before the team can grasp the final release date for the full game.
