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Elden Ring Switch 2 Port Delayed to 2026
FromSoftware and Bandai Namco have confirmed that Elden Ring: Tarnished Edition will not be arriving on Nintendo Switch 2 this year as planned. The highly anticipated port of the 2022 Game of the Year has been pushed to 2026, following reports of ongoing performance issues on Nintendo’s latest console.
The delay was announced via the official FromSoftware account on X/Twitter, where the studio cited technical challenges as the primary reason. Early hands-on impressions from select outlets had already noted frame-rate inconsistencies and unstable performance, particularly in handheld mode.
“Additional development time is needed to ensure the game launches in its best possible state,” FromSoftware wrote, apologising to fans and thanking them for their continued patience. No revised release date was given beyond the 2026 window.
Technical Hurdles for the Tarnished
Unlike many of its peers, Elden Ring has always been a demanding title, pushing both consoles and PCs to their limits with its vast open world and dense visual effects. Porting it to a hybrid platform like the Switch 2 presents unique challenges, especially when maintaining fidelity across both docked and handheld modes.
Developers working on the project reportedly encountered issues balancing visual quality with frame-rate stability, which forced the delay. The move suggests that FromSoftware is unwilling to compromise on quality, a stance consistent with the studio’s reputation for delivering technically solid experiences at launch.
Switch 2’s Strong Start, But One Outlier
The news comes at a time when most other major third-party releases have performed impressively on the Switch 2. Games like Star Wars Outlaws and Assassin’s Creed Shadows have drawn praise for their strong optimisation, further highlighting Elden Ring’s unique difficulties.
While it remains unclear what technical bottlenecks the team is facing, some analysts have speculated that the game’s open-world streaming system and visual density might be proving difficult to optimise for the new architecture.
Fans Willing to Wait
Despite the setback, community sentiment remains largely positive. Fans of Elden Ring have expressed support for FromSoftware’s decision to delay rather than risk another troubled port launch. Many are hopeful that Elden Ring: Tarnished Edition will eventually deliver the full Lands Between experience on a handheld device even if it takes a little longer than expected.
For now, Tarnished across the world will have to wait until 2026 to see how Elden Ring performs on Nintendo’s next-generation hardware.
