Back in January, Game Informer noted that Sanity, an Australian retail outlet, listed Ubisoft’s latest South Park title for the Nintendo Switch with a release date of March 13, 2018. Contradicting Game Informer’s findings, however, was an Amazon Mexico listing discovered by Mexico-based gaming site Pixelania that claimed South Park: The Fractured but Whole was launching on Feb. 13, a month earlier than initially reported.
Currently, Ubisoft has yet to comment on the game’s release on the game’s release on the Switch in general, but Feb. 13 does coincide with the re-release of South Park: The Stick of Truth on PS4 and Xbox One consoles. While it’s possible the Amazon Mexico listing was a mixup of the releases, no correction from any source is peculiar. That the Switch could be getting a game as raunchy and debaucherous as The Fracture but Whole is no surprise, especially considering the release of 2016’s gorefest Doom and the equally as twisted The Binding of Isaac on the hybrid console.
It also wouldn’t be surprising for Ubisoft to want to release a port on the Switch considering the success it previously saw on Nintendo’s console. Though it is a far cry from South Park, Ubisoft’s Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle melded two unlikely universes in a title that surprised many. The publisher/developer has put faith in the console’s eShop and is slated to launch two more titles, Steep and Starlink: Battle for Atlas, in the near future
One constant between the Sanity and Amazon Mexico listing is that both dates fall on a Tuesday, which, in the gaming-verse, are prime for AAA releases. The fact that Ubisoft hasn’t even confirmed a Switch port of The Fracture but Whole may be concerning, but there is always the possibility that they’re going for a launch a la The Cloverfield Paradox - one not inundated with marketing or anticipation.
While potentially exciting news, it’s worth noting that both the report from Pixelania and the Amazon Mexico listing have vanished. This only further adds to the mystery, especially considering the Sanity listing has also disappeared. Retail outlets have been known to jump the gun on listing product, and there’s no guarantee that either was accurate, but there is little doubt that Ubisoft would want to release The Fractured but Whole for the Switch.
Nintendo’s hybrid console has proven to be a vast improvement over the Wii U, even surpassing lifetime sales of the prior console within the first year of release. Developers like Bethesda have been jumping all over the chance of being featured on the Switch, proving the systems drawing power of top developers and publishers. It’s less of a question of whether or not The Fractured but Whole will release on the Switch and more of a matter of “when.”
