It is offline-only, so online hunts are reserved for the full game, but the Switch 2 demo has one trick the other versions lack: local play. Two nearby Switch 2 owners with the demo can connect directly for co-op hunts. Series producer Ryozo Tsujimoto told Video Games Chronicle this matters because Switch 2 revives the handheld hunting culture of the PSP and 3DS days, and even enables what he called a cross-platform version of it: someone with a PS5 and someone with a Switch 2 in the same living room can connect through the crossplay backend for what he described as essentially a virtual local wireless experience.

Save data transfers from the demo to the full game, matching how the demo works on PC and other consoles, and digital pre-orders for the full game open on 20 October, the same day the demo lands in BST territories.

The demo also doubles as a performance test. Wilds' launch-year performance troubles drew plenty of criticism, and how the demanding game runs on Switch 2 has been a subject of speculation, so trying it before buying is a genuinely useful option. Capcom has said the Switch 2 porting effort, which it called a "painstaking, seemingly endless process", ended up improving the other versions too.