Friday, September 25th 2026

GTA 6 on Nintendo Switch 2 "Doesn't Make Sense" Former Rockstar Dev Says

Grand Theft Auto VI is stacking up to be one of, if not the biggest launch in the history of the games industry, if analyst predictions are true. Despite the massive hype around the game, it will still be a console exclusive at launch and likely for a considerable time after that. However, according to Jérémy Hartvick, a former Rockstar developer who worked on GTA VI until 2020, in a recent interview with Kiwi Talkz, a port to Nintendo's Switch 2 handheld isn't likely.

As the developer explains, "I don't believe it even makes sense, because I'm not sure the audience for GTA 6 is so much the audience for the Switch. If you're a GTA fan, you would probably buy a console on which GTA will come out," although the developer expects that it would be possible to get the game running on the Switch 2, albeit with compromises to things like in-game visuals.
Hartvick goes so far as to suggest that Rockstar could conceivably get GTA VI running on a smartphone in one way or another: "If they put their mind to it, you could be playing GTA 6 on your phone because that technology exists, and it has been proven." Although he is likely referring to mobile game streaming, it's possible that even without a native port, emulators and translation layers, like Valve's FEX and Proton could get a playable experience on modern Arm SoCs.
Sources: Kiwi Talks on YouTube, via Dexerto
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11 Comments on GTA 6 on Nintendo Switch 2 "Doesn't Make Sense" Former Rockstar Dev Says

#1
cvaldes
First of all, this is a dev guy who left the company six years ago, not the CEO of Rockstar.

Second, if GTA VI can run on base PS5 and Xbox X|S, it could probably be optimized to run on Switch 2.

Switch 2 runs at least one Yakuza title. The audience is not so different than the GTA one. And coming to Switch 2 is an Elden Ring exclusive title Duskbloods. Switch 2 isn't just Pokémon and Hello Kitty.

His stance is bizarrely detached from reality.
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#2
ZoneDymo
cvaldesFirst of all, this is a dev guy who left the company six years ago, not the CEO of Rockstar.

Second, if GTA VI can run on base PS5 and Xbox X|S, it could probably be optimized to run on Switch 2.

Switch 2 runs at least one Yakuza title. The audience is not so different than the GTA one. And coming to Switch 2 is an Elden Ring exclusive title Duskbloods. Switch 2 isn't just Pokémon and Hello Kitty.

His stance is bizarrely detached from reality.
The problem with Nintendo is that they make both the console and the most populair games for that console.
This was explained to me a long time ago, in general, PS/Xbox owners buy 7 games and these are from all kinds of devs.
Nintendo owners buy 5 games...and those tend to be Nintendo's own games, Mario, Zelda, Metroid etc.

So bringing an outsider game, even GTA, it just might not be worth the effort and maybe even "hurt" the public image of the game.
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#3
sephiroth117
Meaningless

If the game can run decently (Rockstar are good in that aspect) then it would open up potential extra sales on a popular platform, period.

"Doesn't make sense" sure it does when there are ram shortages and consoles keep having price increases

It's a purely technical challenge for the switch 2, especially in portable mode where it sips 10 Watts, this is where it's understandable to not port it
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#4
Vayra86
It doesn't make sense to port anything non-Nintendo to the Switch. But kudos for the half-assed try, Nintendo, while slowly eroding every USP you had. I'm sure you won't do a Sony in due time ;) The Switch 2 is remarkably close to becoming a glorified phone.
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#5
JustBenching
Vayra86It doesn't make sense to port anything non-Nintendo to the Switch. But kudos for the half-assed try, Nintendo, while slowly eroding every USP you had. I'm sure you won't do a Sony in due time ;) The Switch 2 is remarkably close to becoming a glorified phone.
Why do you think that? I'm currently playing the ezio trilogy on my switch.

It's the go to handheld for performance graphics price and battery life (well the switch 2 not so much, they put a tiny baterry in there)
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#6
phints
No one is disputing the Switch 2's capabilities for a ~10W handheld, mostly thanks to the Nvidia Soc (with a lot of perf/watt left on the table not being TSMC 3N or 2N), but it just runs very poorly with these slow ARM CPUs, just look at many titles being low settings and 30fps. It would run this game like trash.
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#7
Onasi
phintsNo one is disputing the Switch 2's capabilities for a ~10W handheld, mostly thanks to the Nvidia Soc (with a lot of perf/watt left on the table not being TSMC 3N or 2N), but it just runs very poorly with these slow ARM CPUs
The whole problem is not with ARM as such, it’s just that the cores that NV has in that SOC are ancient. They were outdated already when Switch 2 was announced.
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#8
MikOnTopGG
In a way he is kind of right. These switches are kind of "kiddie" at this point.
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#9
Vayra86
JustBenchinggo to handheld for performance graphics price and battery life (well the switch 2 not so much, they put a tiny baterry in there)
I'll go to something else lol. And yeah. The Switch 2 is what I'm talking about. The first one was fine
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#10
ixi
Does not make sense. Haha, yeah, right. Crossing fingers for GTA 6 to come out for NS2.
Posted on Reply
#11
Hyderz
I think with Nintendo, should just stick to its first party titles… Mario, Zelda, Metroid, pokemon etc etc.. for other titles best to play on a stronger handheld or pc
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