Resident Evil 7 For Switch To Be A Streaming Game

A teaser trailer for the Switch release of Resident Evil 7 was uploaded yesterday onto Youtube providing us a glimpse of what the port will look like when it hits the Japanese eShop next week. Turns out it’s a very strange release compared to all other versions of the game. Why? Apparently, Capcom wants to test out the viability of a streaming game. The game itself will only be a small 45 mb download and will require a high speed internet connection that is very stable to effectively stream all additional parts of the game.

It’s interesting to note that so far the game is set to be available only on the Japanese eShop. I wouldn’t be surprised if the game doesn’t see a wide international release due to potential network issues th at such a release would see in other countries. Despite the fact it’s 2018, a lot of the world still doesn’t have access to fast and reliable internet connections, at least compared with Japan. Just looking at Speedtest.net global comparison

of internet speed averages gives you an idea of exactly what I’m talking about. Japan is #15 in the world for average broadband speed at 76 Mbps. When you consider that the average for Australia is less than half of that, it’s easy to see how a streaming game of this size might not be viable in a lot of the world.

It seems that Capcom is a bit hesitant even in the Japanese market given that the first 15 minutes of the game are free. The way I see it, they’re giving players the chance to test out how smooth the game plays on their connection before deciding to invest.

Assuming everything works smoothly, this port is quite special in that it will be the only complete collection of Resident Evil 7 (in a single release) as it will include all DLC extensions with its ~$18 price tag.