Cuphead is coming to the Nintendo Switch, Microsoft and StudioMDHR announced today during the bustle of GDC. Xbox Live integration will also be coming for that game, but it will be added with a post-launch update.
Microsoft makes a point about "partnering with StudioMDHR to investigate bringing Xbox Live features beyond Xbox and PC to Nintendo Switch" in its blog post but it isn"t the first game to come with Xbox Live on the Switch. Minecraft launched on the Switch in 2017 allowing players to login with their Microsoft account and use their Xbox profile for cross-play. It"s a very basic implementation, so perhaps the company wants to expand Xbox Live on the Switch with a bunch of new features, starting with Cuphead. Xbox Live was announced to be coming to Android and iOS just about a week ago, as well.
Nintendo credited its “friends at Microsoft” for making the game’s port possible at its Nindies event.
Along with the Switch port, StudioMDHR also announced a free update for the game, aiming to add “a bevy of new features, art, and back end changes.” These include the ability to play as Mugman in singleplayer – complete with his own level completion jingle. StudioMDHR also fully animated all cinematic cut-scenes in the game and added multiple fight intros for both Cuphead and Mugman.
Additionally, the game now includes localizations for French, Italian, German, Spanish, Brazilian Portuguese, Polish, Russian, Japanese, Korean, and Simplified Chinese, all with curated fonts and calligraphy.
StudioMDHR has also managed to make a few optimizations leading to levels loading quicker and a reduction in the overall size of the installed game.
All of these improvements will be coming to all platforms, including the Nintendo Switch. There"s no word on when the Xbox Live integration will be implemented, but both the free update and the Switch port will arrive on April 18.
Editor"s Note: A previous version of this article incorrectly stated that Cuphead would be the first game to include Xbox Live integration on the Nintendo Switch. This has since been corrected, we regret the error.