Key Highlights:
- Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy: Encore Edition launches exclusively for Nintendo Switch 2 on November 5 with five new glam-rock outfits.
- The native Switch 2 version targets either 1440p at 30 FPS or 1080p at 40 FPS in TV mode, with handheld play targeting 30 FPS.
- Unlike the original Switch Cloud Version, Encore Edition runs locally and adds mouse aiming, gyro controls, HDR and all previously released digital content.
Nearly five years after its original release, Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy is getting new content through an exclusive Nintendo Switch 2 edition launching on November 5, 2026.
Eidos-Montréal has announced Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy: Encore Edition, bringing the complete single-player adventure to Switch 2 alongside five brand-new outfits inspired by 1980s glam rock. Star-Lord, Gamora, Drax, Rocket and Groot each receive one of the exclusive costumes.
The new release is more significant than simply porting the 2021 game to another Nintendo system.
The original Switch version was Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy: Cloud Version. It streamed the game remotely, required a stable and permanent internet connection and installed only an 83MB launcher. Nintendo even recommended trying its free demo before purchasing to check whether a player’s connection could handle the service.
Encore Edition is instead a dedicated Switch 2 release with an estimated download size of around 45GB, allowing the game itself to run on the console rather than relying on cloud streaming. Nintendo also lists Save Data Cloud support, HDR on compatible televisions and TV, tabletop and handheld play.
I think that change is considerably more important than the five new costumes. Guardians technically reached Nintendo hardware in 2021, but Switch 2 is finally getting the conventional portable version that the original console could not deliver.
Performance targets have also now been confirmed.
In TV mode, players can choose between:
- Quality Mode: 1440p at a targeted 30 FPS
- Performance Mode: 1080p at a targeted 40 FPS
Handheld mode targets 30 FPS, although Eidos-Montréal has not published the corresponding handheld rendering resolution.
The 40 FPS option is particularly interesting because it gives players a middle ground between the sharper Quality presentation and a conventional 30 FPS target without attempting to reach 60 FPS on Switch 2.
Encore Edition also uses features specific to Nintendo’s newer hardware.
Joy-Con 2 mouse functionality works through menus and for aiming Star-Lord’s Element Blasters, while gyroscope controls can be used when piloting the Milano, during sliding sequences and while moving Peter Quill through zero-gravity environments.
Those control options are optional additions rather than a redesign of the game itself.
The full base campaign remains the same story-driven adventure released in October 2021, with players controlling Star-Lord while directing Gamora, Drax, Rocket and Groot during combat. Dialogue decisions can also change individual conversations and relationships as the team attempts to contain a cosmic disaster it helped create.
Encore Edition includes all previously released digital content alongside the five new glam-rock costumes.
That means the new outfits are the only newly announced in-game content exclusive to this release. There is no new story chapter, mission or playable Guardian being added.
The game’s soundtrack also remains a major part of the experience, combining an original fictional Star-Lord album with licensed music from artists including Iron Maiden, KISS, Blondie, Europe and Rick Astley.
Nintendo’s current listing also preserves one of the original game’s strongest credentials: Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy won Best Narrative at The Game Awards 2021.
The Switch 2 release comes after the game spent years finding new audiences following a slower commercial start.
Square Enix acknowledged in 2022 that initial sales had fallen below expectations despite strong reviews. GLN later covered another attempt to broaden its audience when Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy became free on the Epic Games Store in January 2024.
Encore Edition arrives under a different publishing structure.
Eidos-Montréal moved out of Square Enix ownership when Embracer Group completed its acquisition of the studio and associated businesses in August 2022. Nintendo now lists CDE Entertainment as publisher and Eidos-Montréal as developer for Encore Edition.
The digital edition is priced at £35.99 in the UK, with a 10% pre-order discount currently reducing it to £32.39 until launch. The US release is priced at $39.99.
A physical Switch 2 edition is also being sold by retailers. Current listings identify that version as a Game-Key Card, meaning the physical card acts as the licence while the game data still needs to be downloaded.
Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy: Encore Edition launches exclusively for Nintendo Switch 2 on November 5.
For returning players, the five new costumes provide the only genuinely new content. For Nintendo players, however, the bigger change is finally being able to run Eidos-Montréal’s complete Guardians adventure locally rather than streaming it from the cloud.
