Yesterday during a surprisingly robust Nintendo Direct, a port of the 2016 FPS hit Doom was announced for the Nintendo Switch. Nintendo Switch owners are likely happy that more third-party games are making their way to the console, but those planning to pick up the physical version of the game may be disappointed to learn that its multiplayer component comes as a separate download.

Due to size constraints of Nintendo Switch cartridges, physical versions of Doom will require players to download a free update to jump into the game's online multiplayer arenas. Meanwhile, the cartridge itself grants players access to the full single-player campaign as well as all the DLC that was released for the game post-launch.

While some fans may be annoyed that they will have to take up some of their Switch's hard drive space in order to play Doom's online multiplayer, at least the feature is in the game at all. As it turns out, the SnapMap level editor that is featured in the PC, PS4, and Xbox One versions of the game won't be available to Nintendo Switch players. It's possible SnapMap was cut due to size constraints as well, though another possibility is that it wasn't used enough and didn't warrant Bethesda or id Software taking the time to port it over to Nintendo's console.

The lack of SnapMap is disappointing for sure, but otherwise Doom on the Nintendo Switch is a mostly complete package, with the critically-acclaimed single player campaign and multiplayer in tow, even if the multiplayer requires a separate download. Doom's multiplayer update will take up extra hard drive space that some Switch owners may not have, but it may be time to invest in additional storage anyway.

A couple of weeks ago, the box art for NBA 2K18 revealed that Switch owners will need to have an SD card in order to play the game. This is likely a sign of things to come, and so Switch owners that want full access to the console's growing library may want to think about purchasing an SD card as soon as possible.

By increasing their storage space, Switch owners shouldn't have to fret about needing to download separate updates for multiplayer or other features in games like Doom. Having to download updates due to cartridge size restraints may become a unfortunate reality for the biggest Switch games, but many Switch fans would likely choose this slight inconvenience over not getting the games at all.

Doom is available now for PC, PS4, and Xbox One, with a Nintendo Switch port coming later this year.

Source: Engadget