A handful of announcements appear for Nintendo Switch, including Yoshi’s Crafted World

Despite Nintendo cancelling its latest Direct presentation, we’re still seeing a slew of new announcements whispered through the grapevine. Final Fantasy 15 Pocket Edition, Civilization VI and Yoshi’s Crafted World have all been revealed for the Switch, while new information has come to light on the console’s impending cloud saves feature.

Final Fantasy 15 Pocket Edition was first launched for iOS and Android in February, and will now act as the first game in its series to land on Nintendo Switch with an updated HD version. The publisher will be offering 40 percent off its price in the run up to its as-of-yet undisclosed release, the same offer that Microsoft and Sony have in place until 13th September for Xbox One and PlayStation 4 players respectively.

Most of the Civilization series is bound to PC, with spin-off Civilization Revolution filling the void with a relatively watered down experience on consoles and mobile. Civilization VI will inevitably break this trend, becoming the first mainline entry since the second in the series to hit console with a release onto the Nintendo Switch on November 16, 2018.

Unfortunately, the trailer remains inaccessible at this time, however 2K Games inadvertently let the cat out of the bag with a landing page on its official site. Contrary to the spin-off, this will stick to the same core experience as its PC counterpart, including the latest game updates, improvement and four pieces of additional content. This ensures that four new civilizations, leaders, and scenarios make it into the fold, split between the Vikings, Poland, Australia as well as Persia and Macedon scenario packs.

Lastly on the game front, the game previously known as Yoshi for Nintendo Switch seems to have an official title. A since removed listing on Nintendo of America’s website has been captured by Nintendo Wire, referring to a game called Yoshi’s Crafted World coming in 2019. This is sure to be Yoshi’s next outing, as seen in the 2017 E3 trailer.

Elsewhere, JapaneseNintendo caught wind of a new phrasing on the back of a third-party game stating it is “Compatible with Save Data Cloud Backup of Nintendo Switch Online.” Of course, this is referring to the long-awaited cloud saves feature set to debut alongside the Nintendo Switch Online service set to launch later this month.

At first, this was believed to be a universal feature, however the phrasing mentioning compatibility doesn’t instil much confidence. Inside sources spoke with Nintendo Life about the matter, revealing that developers will have to tick a mandatory box “yes” or “no” for cloud save support, while Nintendo takes care of the legwork. Older games will be supported, however this will require an update that Nintendo will have to push itself.

While it might not make sense for developers to forgo the feature, some such as Epic Games’ Fortnite prefer to do things in-house without the help of Nintendo. Others might simply wish to ignore extra padding, as seen with some developers dropping the Switch’s support for screenshots and recording. Either way, it’s in the hands of individual developers apparently.

Much of this information was likely going to be unveiled in yesterday’s Nintendo Direct before the firm cancelled it in respect for victims of the horrendous earthquake in Hokkaido, Japan. Sadly, 16 have been confirmed dead so far, double the count revealed yesterday. Our thoughts go out to the all affected by the disaster.

KitGuru Says: Personally, I’m excited to finally see a proper Civilization game land on console. I have fond memories of the second entry on the first-generation PlayStation. What do you think of the upcoming Switch titles?

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