Galak-Z, the roguelike, two-dimensional shooter with mechs from 2015, is (sort of) switching to a certain Nintendo platform but not in the way you might think. Developer 17-Bit announced that Galak-Z: Variant S is coming to the Switch and is a specialized port of Galak-Z: Variant Mobile. These two Variant games are not the Galak-Z Switch ports from the PS4 and PC version that you may have wished for, but separate games fitted for their respective platforms. No release date was given for Variant S but Variant Mobile is out now in a few certain countries.
Galak-Z: Variant S and Variant Mobile are essentially the same games and both were inspired by the main PS4 and PC title. These “space-shooting action-RPGs” feature a full campaign with more than a hundred replayable missions. The Bot Battle League also lets players fight against player-created squads and get better loot.
17-Bit has acknowledged the Switch before. In a tweet from March 2017, the developer stated that they were “big fans” of the Switch but had nothing to announce at that time since they were “heads down” on Variant Mobile. They announced this port a little over a year after that tweet. Jake Kazdal, CEO and founder of 17-Bit, expressed his eagerness to release the game on the Switch.
“With Galak-Z: Variant S, we’re capitalizing on the Nintendo Switch’s maximum potential with handheld and tabletop mode, and implementing new changes in the game,” said Kazdal. “By bringing this title to the Nintendo Switch, we are delivering an incredible space exploration experience to a wide and eager player base.”
This may not be the exact Galak-Z Switch port that some fans may have wanted, but it still looks heavily inspired by the main game on PS4 and PC. Galak-Z: Variant S will be at E3 next month in the GungHo booth.