The Reason Minecraft Is Stuck At 720p On Nintendo Switch

Minecraft is now available on the Nintendo Switch, completing the cycle to make it available on literally every gaming device known to man. However, some differences have been noted between this latest version and the one available on other platforms, including the fact that it only runs at 720p.

This news comes to us from Time, who recently posted a review of Minecraft for the Switch that dives into the nuts and bolts of the game more than your typical game assessment. That's reasonable, as the game has been around for nearly a decade. People already know what the game is all about, so it makes sense to paint a picture of what sets the Switch version apart from the pack.

For starters, and as mentioned above, the Switch version of Minecraft only displays in 720p. That might be surprising, considering the fact that Minecraft is far from being a graphical or technical powerhouse, but it turns out that there's actually a good reason for this. According to the original report, the resolution of the game has less to do with the power of the Switch and more to do with the difficulty of changing its resolution between docked and undocked play. So, instead of allowing for 1080p docked and switching to 720p on the undocked screen (that's its roof, after all), the developers decided to just lock it in at 720p across both modes of play. Apparently, having Minecraft run at 1080p somewhere down the road isn't out of the question but, for now, it'll look the same no matter how you play the game.

Also unique(ish) to this version of Minecraft is a Mario-themed set of skins. From in-game characters to world-building materials, UI changes and more, the Switch version of Minecraft comes with a collection of goodies that was previously exclusive to the Wii U version of the game.

The other big change is the scale of game worlds on the Switch, which falls between the Wii U version of the game and other modern consoles like the PlayStation 3 and Xbox One. While the Wii U version could only build worlds measuring 864 x 864 blocks, the Switch version can go up to 3,072 x 3,072. To be clear, that's plenty of space to stretch your legs in a single Minecraft world. However, both the PS4 and Xbox One versions of the game can go up to 5,120 x 5,120, in case you just really want that extra space.

Again, Minecraft is out now on the Switch, so feel free to add it to your game collection for $30. Similar to the Vita version of the game, what really sets the Switch version apart from the pack is that it's a fully fleshed-out version of the game, with the added bonus of being able to take it wherever you want to go.