‘Resident Evil 7’ comes to Nintendo Switch in Japan via cloud streaming

You can play the underrated action-adventure games Resident Evil Revelations and Resident Evil Revelations 2 on the Nintendo Switch right now, but there isn’t currently a way to enjoy last year’s excellent Resident Evil 7: Biohazard on the system. That’s about to change in Japan, though it comes with a catch.

Beginning May 24, Nintendo Switch players in Japan will be able to purchase a 180-day pass to Resident Evil 7: Cloud Version, a streaming-only edition of the game that includes access to the main story as well as all DLC. It will cost 2,000 yen, equivalent to about $18, making it a fairly good bargain for those who don’t plan on replaying the story over and over again.

A free trial is also available, allowing you to play for 15 minutes to ensure your internet connection is strong enough to handle the full game. Capcom recommends using either a wired connection — not particularly ideal for the Switch — or an 802.11ac 5 GHz wireless connection.

Only 45MB of space is needed on the Switch itself.

As with the majority of Nintendo Switch games, Resident Evil 7: Cloud Version will be playable with the system in handheld mode, docked, or in tabletop mode. The translated Japanese website also said an extra “operation method” has been added specifically for Nintendo Switch, though it doesn’t specify exactly how this will work. Similar first-person games have allowed players to use the Joy-Con controllers individually for more accurate aiming.

The are some caveats, however. If you allow your tickets to expire, Capcom doesn’t guarantee that your save data will be retained. The company also said on its website that there could even be problems with your data during your valid ticket time, and seeing as there is no way to back up your Nintendo Switch save files yet, this could be a problem, though there could perhaps be a workaround for this when Nintendo Switch Online’s cloud save service launches this fall.

If you don’t have a Switch or don’t live in Japan, Resident Evil 7 is available now on Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC. The PlayStation 4 version offers full PlayStation VR support, and a recent patch has made the Xbox One X a great choice for the game, as well.