Resident Evil 2, 3, and 4 Remakes Head to Nintendo Switch 2 With Full DLC on October 16

By CriticalPixel · 2026-09-09

Capcom just handed Switch 2 owners a genuinely stacked lineup and did it without a splashy standalone showcase. During today's Nintendo Direct, the publisher confirmed that the Resident Evil 2, Resident Evil 3, and Resident Evil 4 remakes are all coming to Nintendo Switch 2, arriving digitally on October 16 with physical copies following in January 2027, according to IGN. That is three of the best survival horror games of the last decade landing on Nintendo's new hybrid within the span of a single announcement, and Capcom is not burying anything behind a paywall bundle to get them. Resident Evil 2 Remake first launched back in 2019, Resident Evil 3 followed in 2020, and Resident Evil 4 arrived in 2023, and all three have spent years building reputations as some of the strongest horror releases of their respective years on PlayStation, Xbox, and PC.

What is actually in the box

Each of the three remakes will be sold individually rather than locked into a single collection, so players who already own one or two on other platforms are not forced to rebuy a bundle just to fill a gap. All three ship with their respective DLC intact, which for Resident Evil 4 means the excellent Separate Ways campaign starring Ada Wong stays included rather than getting stripped out for a cheaper port, as detailed in IGN's report on the announcement.

Resident Evil 2 remake gameplay screenshot from the Steam store page

Capcom has not mentioned any new features, visual upgrades, or Switch 2 specific gimmicks for these ports, so do not expect anything beyond a competent handheld conversion of games most horror fans have already played at least once. That is fine. Resident Evil 2 Remake still holds up as one of the tightest survival horror redesigns ever made, Resident Evil 3 remains a punchier if shorter companion piece, and Resident Evil 4 is arguably the best action horror game Capcom has ever shipped. Getting all three portable, docked or undocked, is a legitimately strong pitch for anyone who has been holding off on a Switch 2 purchase.

Filling out Capcom's Switch 2 library

This announcement also closes a gap in Capcom's console coverage. Resident Evil 7, Village, and Requiem are already native on Switch 2, and with these three remakes joining them in October, nearly the entire mainline saga becomes playable on the platform. Resident Evil 1, 5, and 6 are still missing native versions, though all three run through Switch 2's backward compatibility with the existing Switch 1 releases, so the practical gap is smaller than it looks on paper. It also puts Capcom in a stronger third party position than most publishers on Switch 2 right now, where big budget horror and action catalogs have been slow to show up compared to Nintendo's own first party output.

Resident Evil 3 remake gameplay screenshot from the Steam store page

Capcom is not stopping at the existing trilogy either. The next entry in the remake pipeline is Resident Evil Veronica, which was revealed at Summer Game Fest and is scheduled for next year with a Switch 2 release already confirmed, a detail IGN's coverage lays out alongside today's port news. Pairing that reveal with today's announcement makes it clear Capcom sees the Switch 2 as a first class home for the franchise going forward, not an afterthought platform getting leftovers years later.

How fans are reacting

Reaction on social media has been mixed rather than uniformly celebratory, which tracks given how crowded today's Nintendo Direct turned out to be. Some replies under IGN's announcement post joked about backlogs piling up with next month sneaking up fast, while others focused their excitement on separate reveals from the same broadcast and shrugged off yet another Resident Evil port. A handful of posts specifically flagged the portable angle as the selling point, joking about facing down Mr. X while waiting at an airport gate. With only a handful of visible replies at the time of writing, this reads as early and limited chatter rather than a fully formed consensus, but the tone leans toward cautious approval more than backlash.

The CriticalPixel take

Three remakes, no bundle lock-in, full DLC intact, and a firm release date less than six weeks out is about as clean an announcement as publishers get. Compare that to companies that strip content out of ports or force players into a season pass just to get the version of a game they already bought once, and Capcom's approach here looks almost old fashioned in the best way. The lack of any Switch 2 specific enhancements is a minor letdown for anyone hoping for a visual showcase, but a straightforward, complete port of three genuinely great games beats a half-finished one dressed up with marketing buzzwords every time.

Resident Evil 4 remake gameplay screenshot from the Steam store page

For a platform still building out its non-Nintendo third party lineup, landing Resident Evil 2, 3, and 4 in one move is a meaningful get. October 16 is not far off, and anyone who has been putting off a Switch 2 purchase now has one more concrete reason circled on the calendar.