When developers deliver news of a release delay, gamers' feelings are often the complete opposite. Developers usually delay a release to raise the polish of a game, taking extra precautions to prevent potential optimization issues. Gamers, on the other hand, cannot help but wonder if something critical went wrong during development. If this is true for unreleased games, the doubts only multiply for titles that are already available on other platforms.
IO Interactive's '007 First Light' is a similar case. Having already launched on PC and other platforms on May 27, only the Switch 2 version has seen its release pushed back three times. The first couple of delays could be brushed off with a "Well, these things happen. They must be aiming for perfect optimization," but with yet another delay announced on the 15th, gamers' doubts are growing. It naturally leads to thoughts like, "Is it because the game is practically unplayable on Switch 2?"
At this point, simply saying "development is going smoothly" is no longer enough to reassure players. Fortunately, at TGS 2026, we got hands-on experience with the Switch 2 version of '007 First Light', allowing us to see whether development is on track and, above all, what level of quality and performance it delivers in the porting process.
Playing the Switch 2 version of '007 First Light' at TGS 2026 gave the impression of a port that squeezes every last drop out of the hardware. However, one point should be clarified first: what we played was strictly a work-in-progress build. With the Switch 2 version targeting a release in March of next year, it can hardly be considered fully ported yet. Therefore, what follows should be read with the understanding that this was an unfinished build.
The visual quality, which catches the eye first, is somewhat disappointing. While it does not look like clay or suffer from severely smudged modeling, the base texture quality is quite low.
In addition, the quality of environmental objects like rocks is also generally low. In the prologue demo, Bond frequently crouches behind rocks to avoid enemy sightlines, making the quality of these environmental assets even more noticeable. While rocks do not look like they were cut at right angles, the difference is clearly felt compared to the existing PC and home console versions like PS5.
The saving grace is that the character modeling has been preserved as much as possible. As an adventure game, '007 First Light' relies heavily on action, but the cinematic chemistry between its characters is also a key element. In that regard, while textures were somewhat sacrificed, the game managed to maintain character modeling and facial detail. Indeed, despite the low texture quality, the character models themselves did not feel unpolished.
Another crucial point, frame rate, held a stable 30 fps, just as the developers confidently claimed in an interview the previous day. Considering that a stable 30 fps is better than fluctuating above 30 fps, it is easy to see why the developers targeted a locked 30 fps rather than pushing for higher frame rates. Having already played the game on PC at over 120 fps, the drop to 30 fps was certainly noticeable, but it was never jarring enough to make the game unplayable.
Of course, there are caveats. This demo covered the early part of the prologue, which mostly consisted of stealth and traversal rather than combat. In fact, no matter how fast one moved within the limited demo time, reaching the combat sections was nearly impossible. In other words, it was not an environment ideal for stress-testing frame rates with screen-filling crowds of NPCs or heavy explosions during combat.
Even so, the demo was meaningful in that it at least demonstrated 'potential.' It was enough to alleviate concerns that lingered in the back of the mind, such as "Is development actually going properly?" or "After delaying it this much, will it cap at 30 fps and still suffer from frame drops?"
The new Switch 2 release date set by IO Interactive is March 2027. With roughly six months remaining, that is plenty of time to carry out polishing and optimization, even for a game heading toward launch rather than just a port.
With a stable 30 fps confirmed, the hope now is that they can use this foundation to boost the visual quality just a little more—really, just a tiny bit more. As '007 First Light' prides itself on a cinematic story and direction, the visual experience should be just as compelling.
