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Press release:
TOKYO, JAPAN — Sept. 14, 2026 — System 3 today revealed a new look at Putty World, an ambitious reimagining of its classic Putty series for Nintendo Switch 2, scheduled for release in Q2 2027.

Retro gaming is more popular than ever, but much of the conversation continues to focus on the pixel art and games of the 1980s. System 3 believes the next wave of retro appreciation will look toward the mid-1990s, an important transitional period when developers began using rendered animation frames to give 2D characters greater depth, detail and expression, shortly before real-time polygonal graphics became the new industry standard.

Putty World is built around a simple question:

What if Nintendo Switch 2 hardware had existed in the mid-1990s?

What would the Putty series have looked and played like if its original creators had access to modern processing power, higher frame rates, greater memory, improved resolution and today’s dual-stick, multi-button controllers?

This concept forms the foundation of System 3’s new “What If?” series, which will explore how classic games could have looked, felt and played if today’s technology had been available when they were originally created.

“With Putty World, we are not simply asking how we can reproduce a game from the past, we are asking what we might have created in the mid-1990s if we had access to the technology available today,” said Mark Cale, founder and CEO of System 3.

“The original Putty games were shaped by the imagination of their creators and the capabilities of the hardware at the time. Our ‘What If?’ concept allows us to revisit that same creative vision without those technical limitations, combining the character, humour and personality of the originals with the fluidity, responsiveness and visual detail now possible on Nintendo Switch 2.”

The version being shown at Tokyo Game Show is a very early playable technology and graphics demonstration, created to showcase the evolving controls, recreated visuals, richer animation, improved playability and greater fluidity of Putty World. It is not the finished game and does not represent the final content or complete playable experience. System 3 continues to recreate and update the game’s graphics while developing new enemies, levels, bosses and additional content ahead of its Q2 2027 release.
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Three Putty Worlds Connected in One Game

Putty World brings together the worlds of Putty, Super Putty and Putty Squad in one connected experience. As players progress, they will unlock recreated and updated levels inspired by other games from across the series.

The game is planned to include 75 new or extensively updated levels, with more than 45 new enemies already added. Players will encounter new opponents, expanded enemy behaviours and new ways in which enemies react, attack and fight. Additional surprises are being introduced throughout development, including end-of-level bosses and dedicated boss battles.

Putty himself has also been given considerably more personality and expression. The updated character features more than 50 facial-expression combinations, helping him react dynamically to the world and events around him.

From Nintendo Switch to Nintendo Switch 2

At gamescom, System 3 demonstrated the scale of the transformation by comparing the Nintendo Switch version of Putty Squad directly with Putty World running on Nintendo Switch 2.

The comparison highlighted the completely recreated graphics, more detailed character renders, richer animation, modernised controls, improved playability and substantially greater fluidity made possible by the new hardware.

System 3’s goal is for Putty World to capture the imagination and distinctive character of a special platform game from the mid-1990s, reimagined without the technical restrictions of the era and made possible by Nintendo Switch 2.

The game is being developed with a stable 60 frames-per-second target and is designed to support 1080p resolution in handheld mode and up to 4K when played on a TV.

Putty World is scheduled for release for Nintendo Switch 2 in Q2 2027. Further gameplay, development updates and details about the game’s content will be revealed as production continues.

Jonas “O.J” Ek
The Gaming Ground
Twitter: @TheGamingGround