You can now play PC games on your Switch with Autorun
Though Nintendo seem to be sunsetting the Switch in terms of major retail releases, it really does feel like the homebrew scene has been reignited lately. Between the plethora of Android ports to run natively on the Switch's operating system to home menu replacements and some pretty huge leaps in emulation, it feels like it's all happening now. Up on the block today? Running PC games of course.
Autorun, previously known as Wine-NX, makes use of Box64 to translate x86 code to something the Switch's ARM processor is happier reading. If you've played PC games on an Android handheld lately using something like GameNative, there are similar things going on behind the scenes. Though still in experimental stages and only touting compatibility with 32 bit games, I was surprised to see a list of those that have already been tested:
| Game | How it runs |
|---|---|
| Halo: Combat Evolved | Plays, at about 30 fps. Needs the 32-bit forwarder. Max graphics even without overclock. |
| WarCraft III | In game at 24-34 fps, menus at about 50 fps; the intro movie plays. Run its setup once first. |
| Need for Speed Underground 2 | Races with sound and the controller, about 20-45 fps. Needs the 32-bit forwarder. Playable low settings without overclock, max settings with overclock. Requires xinput mod: https://github.com/xan1242/NFSU-XtendedInput |
| Need for Speed: Most Wanted | Playable low settings without overclock, max settings with overclock. Requires xinput mod: https://github.com/xan1242/NFS-XtendedInput |
| Left 4 Dead 2 | Reaches in game, heavy, maybe can be improved. Needs Goldberg Steam emulator since Autorun is single process and won't have Steam, use your original game copy. |
| Fallout: New Vegas | Reaches in game, heavy, maybe can be improved. |
| OpenTTD | Up to 60 fps, with sound. |
| Quake III Arena (Quake3e) | About 37 fps at 720p. |
The Sims 2 is currently being worked on too, though does not currently work. If you're interested in trying the app for yourself, you can find the GitHub repo linked below, along with the ongoing forum discussion for the project.
GitHub Repo Ongoing Discussion Thread
