A senior Microsoft official reiterated the company’s commitment to bringing Xbox games to the Nintendo Switch 2. The move underscores the gaming giant’s ongoing multi-platform publishing pivot that has already resulted in several former Xbox console exclusives launching on the original Switch.
Faced with declining console sales and lengthening game development cycles, Microsoft started boosting its gaming revenues by bringing titles to rival platforms in early 2024. In the latest example of this trend, the Halo 1 remake was just announced for the PS5, which will get it on the same (yet-to-be-announced) day the Xbox Series X/S and PC do in 2026.
Switch 2 Isn’t Getting Halo (Yet), But More Xbox Games Are Coming
While the Switch 2 wasn’t mentioned in the October 24 announcement, Nintendo’s hybrid console will see plenty of support from Xbox. That’s according to Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer, who said as much in a recent interview with Famitsu, conducted before Halo‘s multi-platform push was confirmed. “We’re trying to lower the barrier to entry for people to play our games,” the executive said, pointing to services and initiatives such as Xbox Game Pass and Xbox Play Anywhere, respectively. At the same time, he confirmed that Microsoft plans to keep releasing games for both the Switch 2 and PS5.
Spencer complimented Nintendo for the “great support” provided to Xbox studios during this ongoing multi-platform shift, and offered similar praise for PlayStation. His comments reinforce an earlier commitment to support the Switch 2 with Xbox games, which also saw the executive praise Nintendo as a “great partner” for Microsoft’s gaming division.
While Halo isn’t yet making the jump to Nintendo’s ecosystem, another big Microsoft franchise is, with the newly announced Anniversary Edition of Fallout 4 being confirmed for the Switch 2. The re-release is presently targeting a 2026 launch and will mark the first mainline Fallout game to launch on a Nintendo system. It is not the first overall, as that title is held by Fallout Shelter, which was ported to the Switch in June 2018, three years before Microsoft bought the post-apocalyptic IP as part of its ZeniMax Media acquisition.
All Xbox Games Released on or Confirmed for Nintendo Switch Consoles
|
Game |
PC/Xbox Release |
Switch / Switch 2 Release |
Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Minecraft |
November 18, 2011 |
May 11, 2017 |
|
|
Ori and the Blind Forest: Definitive Edition |
March 11, 2016 |
September 27, 2019 |
Not developed internally but published by Microsoft Studios. |
|
Minecraft Dungeons |
May 26, 2020 |
||
|
Quake (remaster) |
August 19, 2021 |
||
|
Minecraft Legends |
April 18, 2023 |
||
|
Quake 2 (remaster) |
August 10, 2023 |
||
|
Pentiment |
November 15, 2022 |
February 22, 2024 |
|
|
Grounded |
September 27, 2022 |
April 16, 2024 |
|
|
Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 + 4 |
July 11, 2025 |
||
|
Heretic + Hexen (remaster) |
August 7, 2025 |
Co-developed with Nightdive Studios. |
|
|
Fallout 4: Anniversary Edition |
2026 |
Exact release date TBA. |
|
Xbox Game Studios also published Ori and the Will of the Wisps, but that game’s Switch port was published by Iam8bit, so it is not included above. Games from Microsoft subsidiaries that weren’t Microsoft subsidiaries at the time they were released on the Switch (Skyrim, Doom, etc.) were also omitted.
While Microsoft only pivoted to full-fledged third-party publishing in early 2024, the company has been sporadically publishing on Nintendo consoles throughout the Switch 1’s life cycle. Most recently, Heretic + Hexen and Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3+4 launched for the Switch in summer 2025. Fallout 4: Anniversary Edition is the first Microsoft game confirmed for the Switch 2 but not the original Switch.
