Nintendo Switch Gets Overwatch-Esque Shooter Paladins During E3

Hi-Rez's Paladins: Champions of the Realm is coming to Nintendo Switch. The game is already up for pre-order on the Nintendo Eshop and will officially release halfway through E3 on June 12. Paladins will run at 60 frames-per-second on Switch in both docked and handheld modes. The Switch version will also support cross-play with Xbox One.

Paladins is a team-based shooter similar to Team Fortress 2 and Overwatch. Gamers play as Champions, powerful heroes who use a mixture of guns and magic to defeat their opponents. Each Champion belongs to one of four classes. Front Line Champions operate as tanks and protect their allies from enemy fire. Damage Champions spearhead offensive assaults with their faster speed and high attack output. Support Champions keep their allies healed up and ready to fight. Flank Champions excel at circumnavigating the battlefield to ambush enemy teams from behind. Players can equip cards to augment or transform a Champion's abilities in order to experiment with different play styles.

Paladins features three different game modes. There's the FPS classic Team Deathmatch. Siege has teams of Champions fighting over a payload that they need to push into an enemy base. Onslaught is two teams fighting over various control points on the map.

"We're thrilled to bring one of the world's most popular shooters to an incredible platform like Nintendo Switch," said Paladins executive producer Chris Larson. "Players will experience the same fantastic team-based shooter gameplay they know and love in Paladins, now in the palms of their hands."

This initial Switch version of Paladins will not be free-to-play, as on PC; it will cost $30 (no word yet on international pricing). Referred to as Paladin's Founder Pack, this version of Paladins comes with all 36 Champions already unlocked. Buying this founder pack will also automatically net players every future Champion as they release and provide players with several exclusive cosmetic items.

An additional, free-to-play version of Paladins will release on the Nintendo Switch later this summer. Although it hasn't been confirmed, it will most likely play like the Paladins on other systems, where players start with eight Champions and need to unlock the other 24 with in-game currency.