Paladins: Champions of the Realm, a free-to-play hero shooter game from Hi-Rez Studios, is no longer available to play on the Nintendo Switch. Paladins: Champions of the Realm is very similar to Blizzard's Overwatch, releasing in early access a few months after Blizzard's game and enjoying its full release a couple of years later, which is when it first launched for the Nintendo Switch.
While Paladins: Champions of the Realm got its start as an Overwatch-style hero shooter, the game later became known for its battle royale mode. Realm Royale is now a standalone product, but it originated as a new game mode for Paladins. Realm Royale, now known as Realm Royale Reforged, is still available for Nintendo Switch gamers to download and play, but the same can't be said for Paladins.
The Nintendo Switch version of Paladins has officially shut down as of June 15, according to ComicBook.com. The game had previously been pulled from the store in April, and so it's unclear how many people were even playing Paladins on the Switch when that version of the game was canned. The bright side is that Paladins is still readily available on other platforms, so fans of the game that were playing the Switch version can at least still play it elsewhere if they so desire.
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At the time that the Paladins Nintendo Switch shutdown was announced, Hi-Rez explained why it was a necessary move. The Nintendo Switch version of Paladins was lacking compared to its counterparts on other consoles, and the company struggled to provide it with the proper support. Leaving the Nintendo Switch version behind will allow Hi-Rez to dedicated its resources to more active versions of the game on other consoles.
Paladins: Champions of the Realm isn't the only Nintendo Switch game Hi-Rez is shutting down this month. Free-to-play shooter Rogue Company is no longer available to download on the Nintendo Switch, and come June 20, it will be completely unplayable on Nintendo's handheld/home console hybrid. The reason why Rogue Company's Nintendo Switch version is shutting down is basically the same as Paladins.
Nintendo fans who played these games will no doubt be disappointed by the shutdowns, but perhaps there is hope on the horizon. Rumor has it that Nintendo is preparing the successor to its Switch console, and maybe that device will justify Hi-Rez bringing its free-to-play games back to Nintendo platforms. Nothing to that effect has actually been announced, though, so fans should certainly keep their expectations in check.
Source: ComicBook