Outer Wilds, the critically acclaimed time loop space adventure, is finally coming to Switch! Here's everything you need to know about the release date and how to pre-order the game.
The Switch port of Outer Wilds, Mobius Digital's award-winning 3rd-person exploration game about escaping a time loop of cosmic proportions, finally has a definite release date. It took almost 3 years, but Switch owners will be able to go on their own space archaeology expedition as soon as Outer Wilds: Archaeologist Edition launches on December 7.
This was announced in a recent Nintendo Indie World Showcase with a new trailer:
Outer Wilds on Switch: Pre-Order Available Now
The Switch version seems to be functionally the same as every other version of the game, so this port is really only meant for people who haven't had an opportunity to check out Outer Wilds before, or just want to be able to play it on the go. The game's first and only expansion, Echoes of the Eye, will also be launching alongside it. Both are already available for pre-order on the Nintendo eShop.
If you're a game collector and were hoping to pick up a physical copy of the game, you'll have to be a bit more patient: Although a physical version is planned, it won't be launching until 2024 at the earliest.
So What Is Outer Wilds Anyway?
Unfortunately, Outer Wilds is one of those games that's difficult to describe without spoiling the experience in some way, like the Stanley Parable or 13 Sentinels. But to give you a rough overview: Outer Wilds is a game where you use a rudimentary spaceship to explore a small solar system filled with even smaller planetoids – think No Man's Sky, but smaller and with more physics shenanigans.
But unlike No Man's Sky, you don't have time to stop and smell the alien roses in this game. About 22 minutes after the start of your space adventure, a certain event sends you back in time, with all your memories of those 22 minutes intact.
And this happens constantly – unless you find a way to stop it. If you're a fan of space exploration games and Majora's Mask-esque time loop gameplay, this game should be right up your alley!
How exactly the developers managed to make the Switch's limited hardware put up with all the simulational complexity of Outer Wilds without melting down in the process is a mystery. But we won't have to wait too much longer to solve that mystery, since the Switch port is coming out this December already.