Capcom, CD Projekt, and FromSoftware Propel Nintendo Switch 2 Ahead of PC and PS5 in Metacritic's Annual Rankings
While the full-scale remake of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time dominating headlines with a 96/100 rating ahead of its November 5 launch comes as little surprise given the N64 original's pedigree, a closer look at Metacritic's 2026 annual rankings reveals a much broader industry shift. Across the Top 20 highest-rated games of 2026 across all platforms, 9 entries belong to Nintendo Switch 2, outpacing PC (7 titles), PlayStation 5 (3 titles), and Xbox Series X|S (1 title, Forza Horizon 6 at 90/100).
Only One First-Party Nintendo Game Sits Among Switch 2's Eleven 90+ Releases in 2026
For decades, Nintendo hardware has been viewed primarily as a home for first-party exclusives while multiplatform blockbusters thrived elsewhere. Yet the breakdown of the Switch 2's top-scoring software in its second year on the market flips that script. Outside of Zelda: Ocarina of Time's historic 96 Metascore on Switch 2 at the very top of the chart, all ten of the other Switch 2 releases that reached a 90/100 or higher in 2026 come from third-party publishers and independent studios.
By comparison, Nintendo's other major internal releases this year, cozy life-sim Pokémon Pokopia (launched March 5) and tactical RPG Fire Emblem: Fortune's Weave (released September 17), both sit just below that threshold at 89/100. The bulk of the platform's critical lead this year is being driven by external partners delivering polished native versions.
| Switch 2 Rank (2026) | Game Title | Publisher / Studio | Switch 2 Release Date | Metascore |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st (#1 Overall) | The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time | Nintendo | November 5, 2026 | 96 / 100 |
| 2nd (#2 Overall) | Sektori | Kimmo Lahtinen | May 14, 2026 | 93 / 100 |
| 3rd (#3 Overall) | Resident Evil 2: Deluxe Edition | Capcom | October 16, 2026 | 93 / 100 |
| 4th (#4 Overall) | The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt - Remastered | CD Projekt Red | September 29, 2026 | 92 / 100 |
| 5th | Resident Evil Requiem | Capcom | February 27, 2026 | 90 / 100 |
| 6th (#9 Overall) | Elden Ring: Tarnished Edition | FromSoftware / Bandai Namco | August 28, 2026 | 90 / 100 |
| 7th (#8 Overall) | Mina the Hollower | Yacht Club Games | May 29, 2026 | 90 / 100 |
| 8th | The Drifter | Powerhoof | June 22, 2026 | 90 / 100 |
| 9th (#11 Overall) | and Roger | TearyHand Studio / Kodansha | June 17, 2026 | 90 / 100 |
| 10th | Onimusha: Way of the Sword | Capcom | September 4, 2026 | 90 / 100 |
| 11th (#12 Overall) | Resident Evil 4: Gold Edition | Capcom | October 16, 2026 | 90 / 100 |
| 12th (#14 Overall) | Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade | Square Enix | January 22, 2026 | 89 / 100 |
Moving Past Impossible Ports as Capcom Goes All-In on Switch 2
Throughout the original Switch lifecycle, getting a demanding multiplatform RPG or action game on Nintendo hardware almost always came with a catch: steep visual downgrades, blurry dynamic resolutions, or years-long waits for cloud and miracle ports. On Switch 2, critical reception shows that playing on a hybrid system no longer requires settling for a compromised experience. Both The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt - Remastered (92/100) and Elden Ring: Tarnished Edition (90/100) earned rave reviews for delivering crisp visuals and stable performance right out of the box.
No major publisher exemplifies this third-party surge better than Capcom. Leveraging the scalability of its RE Engine as part of its multiplatform strategy, Capcom has placed four titles at 90/100 or above on Switch 2 in 2026 alone: Resident Evil Requiem (90/100 in February), Onimusha: Way of the Sword (90/100 in September), and its October 16 horror wave headlined by Resident Evil 2: Deluxe Edition (93/100) and Resident Evil 4: Gold Edition (90/100), alongside Resident Evil 3 and sci-fi adventure PRAGMATA (89/100). That momentum will face another milestone on December 4, 2026, when Monster Hunter Wilds lands on the console.
The Next Test: Turning Enhanced Classics Into Day-One Multiplatform Releases
As impressive as the Switch 2's nine top-20 placements are, there is still an important caveat in how Metacritic's platform rankings work. Several of the console's highest-scoring entries in 2026, including Square Enix's Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade (89/100) and Final Fantasy VII Rebirth (87/100), are enhanced editions of acclaimed titles that debuted on other systems years ago rather than brand-new simultaneous launches.
Still, now that Nintendo's official Switch 2 release schedule through 2027 has confirmed a complete transition away from original Switch software development, third-party studios have a clear incentive to treat the hardware as a primary target. Proving that massive worlds like the Lands Between and the Northern Kingdoms run effortlessly on Switch 2 is the first step toward making day-and-date multiplatform releases the standard.
My Perspective
Loving the original Switch always meant accepting a frustrating trade-off: you bought it for Zelda and Mario, then kept a PC or PlayStation nearby whenever a heavyweight third-party RPG dropped. Watching Resident Evil 2: Deluxe Edition, The Witcher 3 Remastered, and Elden Ring: Tarnished Edition stack up 90-plus scores alongside Ocarina of Time proves that playing on Nintendo hardware no longer means tolerating blurry compromises. If Capcom sticks the landing with Monster Hunter Wilds on December 4 and more publishers commit to day-one parity, the Switch 2 might finally become the first Nintendo console in decades that does not force you to own a second box.
Based on the outskirts of New York City, Chaya 'Chayane' spent five years studying software engineering in Montreal before returning to her home state. A Full-Stack developer and Deep Learning AI architecture researcher, she explores neural networks and algorithmic optimization while engineering data pipelines for Retrocharting and Gamescharting alongside Grimtag. A gamer for over 20 years and an avid collector of Nintendo history and The Legend of Zelda, she explored World of Warcraft's Azeroth before bringing her deep technical background to video game analysis.
