Aliens: Fireteam Elite is no longer playable on Nintendo Switch. Video Games Chronicle reports that the shooter’s Switch version, which existed only as a cloud release, has been permanently shut down, leaving anyone who bought it without a way to launch the game on the console.
Cold Iron Studios’ action game originally launched in August 2021 on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, Xbox One and PC, with the Switch port following in April 2023. Because the Switch hardware was not considered powerful enough to run the game natively, that version shipped as a cloud release, streamed rather than installed. It sold for $29.99 for the standard edition and $59.99 for an Ultimate Edition that bundled the base game with its DLC.
The game was delisted from the eShop earlier this year, and players were shown a message saying the cloud servers would be switched off on August 5. That date has now passed, and the servers are gone.
Nothing to fall back on
What separates this from an ordinary delisting is what the shutdown leaves behind. The versions sold on other platforms are still listed on their digital storefronts and remain fully playable offline even if they are eventually removed from sale. The Switch version had no local copy to fall back on, because streaming was the only way it was ever delivered, so the purchase went dark with the servers.
Video Games Chronicle frames the shutdown as another example of the impermanence of games sold as streams, at a point when cloud delivery is increasingly pitched as an alternative to buying more expensive hardware. Xbox and PlayStation both offer streaming to Game Pass and PlayStation Plus subscribers as an alternative to downloading and running games locally, and Xbox has begun testing an option to stream games for free.
The report does not mention any refund arrangement for players who bought the Switch version.
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