Nintendo’s Star Fox Switch 2 Remake runs on an entirely custom engine with graphics that make the game’s original designer “choked up”

Published:

June 11 2026

Last Updated on 11 June 2026

By:

Lewis White

Reading Time: 2 minutes

Since its reveal, many fans have wondered two things about the new Star Fox Remake: who’s making it and what engine is it running on? Coming to Nintendo Switch 2 later this month, Nintendo has revealed additional details about the upcoming arcade-style rail shooter.

As with many Nintendo games, this information was kept secret for the game’s reveal with many believing the game to be made by an internal team and others claiming the title is made in Unreal Engine. Neither of this would be surprising; Nintendo has made heavy use of UE for Yoshi’s Crafted World, Pikmin 4, and more, but Unreal Engine hasn’t been used here.

As it turns out, though, the upcoming Star Fox Remake for Nintendo Switch 2 is not made internally by Nintendo. Additionally, the game has been built on a completely original engine by new developer Velan Studios.

Founded in 2016, Velan Studios is known for AA games for VR, PC and console. Velan is the team being the popular Midnight Murder Club and Hot Wheels: Rift Rally. Star Fox is not Velan Studios’ first game for Nintendo, though, with the studio previously working on the underwhelming Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit.

Velan has confirmed that the new Star Fox game runs on its internal game engine, dubbed the Viper Engine. “Star Fox on Nintendo Switch 2 is developed in VIPER, our in-house game engine at Velan,” the studio confirmed. “It allowed us to bring Fox and his crew back in higher fidelity than ever before, with gameplay running at 60fps and all cinematics rendered in real-time.”

In a statement on Twitter, original Star Fox graphic designer Takaya Imamura, who retired from Nintendo in 2021, commented on the new remake. Imamura explained that, back in the Nintendo 64 era, they “really struggled to get people to understand the difference between pre-rendered footage and real-time CG”.

With Star Fox on Nintendo Switch 2, Imamura believes that the new remake crosses the boundary between pre-rendered and real-time CG. The new remake, even with its custom engine, now looks like a movie from cutscene to gameplay, and the original designer is very pleased with its new aesthetic.

“With Star Fox 64, we aimed for demo scenes and staging that wouldn’t look shabby next to pre-rendered stuff, all while chasing the unique appeal that only real-time could deliver,” he said. “In that sense, this latest graphics upgrade really gets me choked up.”

Star For for Nintendo Switch 2 releases exclusively on the new handheld/console hybrid on June 25, 2026. The game has a free demo available right now on the Nintendo eShop.

About The Author

Lewis White

Lewis White is a veteran games journalist with over a decade in the field. Starting with beloved Xbox website ICXM/XboxMAD, Lewis became the Gaming Editor at MSPoweruser before becoming the Editor in Chief of StealthOptional and Gfinityesports. Lewis later jumped to By Gamers For Gamers where he jumped to become EIC of VideoGamer and the host of the New VideoGamer Podcast prior to the website’s acquisition.

Over the years, Lewis has also seen long-form investigative pieces published in outlets such as Eurogamer, PCGamesN, Wireframe, Retro Gamer, Nintendo Life, and EDGE. Now, as the Editor in Chief of FRVR Blog, Lewis strives to bring the same level of quality journalism with interview-led content to the site in both written and audio form with the FRVR Podcast.

With a First Degree BA Hons in Games Journalism and Public Relations, Lewis has been a stable part of the British games press for over a decade, and has frequently displayed his love of Halo, The Elder Scrolls, Fallout, and other games pretty much everywhere he’s worked. And FRVR is no different.

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