NieR Replicant may be coming to Nintendo Switch, according to some files in the game. Eagle-eyed players were data mining NieR Replicant and found mentions of a Nintendo Switch version that indicated that the game was at least up and running on Nintendo's home console/handheld hybrid, but it's unclear if there are any concrete plans to release the game on the platform.
NieR Replicant has been a big success since launching earlier this year. The remaster of the 2010 title introduced a plethora of new content that wasn't available in the main game, introduced new players to the game, and generally improved the game to be even better. Hot off the heels of the critically acclaimed NieR: Automata, the franchise has been steadily growing its fanbase and it could get even bigger very soon.
Reddit user SkacikPL (via VGC) found references to a Nintendo Switch version of NieR Replicant in the game's Steam files, noting graphical settings. The files are listed for the "NX", which was the console's codename before it was released. Whether or not the game will ever actually see a release on the platform remains to be seen, but a Nintendo Switch version was leaked by Amazon last year. It's possible the game will come to the new Nintendo Switch Pro which is expected to be revealed any day now, but it also could've been outright cancelled if the team was unable to get it up and running in a satisfying way.
Nintendo Switch has been home to many other great modern games ranging from Doom Eternal to Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus, but they tend to be a bit rough around the edges. Perhaps developer Toylogic can find a way to port the original version of the game to bring some version of NieR to Nintendo Switch, but it remains to be seen. As of right now, NieR Replicant runs impressively on the new consoles with a hefty 60 FPS, fast load times, and many other performance upgrades.
It's possible that Toylogic wasn't keen on compromising the overall quality and vision of the game just to get it running on Nintendo Switch. Whether or not the developer is still working on the game or it has dumped it entirely to move on to other projects is a mystery, but if NieR Replicant is coming to the Nintendo Switch then it may not be long before fans find out for sure.