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Forums - Nintendo Discussion - Will Switch sales success lead to better early 'Switch 2' support?

The phrase 'Wii U made developers hesitate to jump on the Switch' is not rare by any stretch of the term, so let us ask the opposite. 

Switch continues to sell well, and Switch 2 is announced. 

Do the third parties move to it faster and stronger?



The Democratic Nintendo fan....is that a paradox? I'm fond of one of the more conservative companies in the industry, but I vote Liberally and view myself that way 90% of the time?

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Well we won't see Switch 2 until at least March 2023. But yes, because Switch is a better brand than Wii. Wii was synonymous with shovelware and waggle for a lot of gamers. Switch is synonymous with high quality gaming on the go, and BotW.



Probably slightly better, Japanese support will most likely be on from the start. Off topic, but please let Nintendo call it the “Switch 2”. Nice and simple



Only if Nintendo can prove its worth at launch. The mistake Nintendo made with the 3DS and Wii U was that because their predecessors were so successful, they assumed third parties would arrive with high quality games day one, so Nintendo put no effort into launching with a killer app on those systems, instead letting third parties take care of that. When that inevitably failed, Nintendo had to scramble to keep the systems afloat in order to attract third party developers who were packing their bags. While this salvaged the 3DS somewhat, it did nothing to help the Wii U. With the Switch's successor, Nintendo needs to make sure they're taking the launch lineup just as seriously as their third party partners. The Switch is getting all this third party support, in part because Nintendo proved the worth of the platform with its own first party software, which drove a user-base big enough for third parties to consider taking it more seriously.

For the Switch 2 or whatever, Nintendo needs to make sure they have a hit on the level of BotW as early in its life as possible to ensure third party confidence in the product. Because if Nintendo's not taking this platform seriously, then why should third parties?



I suppose it depends on how well 3rd party games are selling throughout Switch life cycle. For the most part, 3rd parties seem to be pleased with how their games are performing on Switch but if for some reason their sales begin to heavily decline than it's possible they will be hesitant to support Switch 2.



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Bigger question is will "Switch 2" be able to run whatever game engines the developers are making at the time without having to bend over backwards and cut too many corners.

If they can port the games without too much fuss it would probably get a fair bit of support, but if it's a pain in the ass, most devs will just stick to PS5/XB2/PC. 



I think "Switch 2" needs to be like the Switch only more powerful. Kind of like the relationship between the SNES and NES. If Switch 2 only does that, then I think it will be fine out of the gate. The problem with Nintendo is they have a tendency to make big changes every generation even when they are doing well. They should really only change when they aren't doing well. Don't fix what ain't broke Nintendo. A big change could sink their next console like the Wii U got sunk after following the Wii. The Wii U changed too much.

Last edited by The_Liquid_Laser - on 15 August 2019

I think so. At least, publishers are saying repeatedly that they are pleased with the sales on the Switch, so I doubt they'll let the chance slide to be on early next time around.

However, the question is if they will bring any good or meaningful support, and what the big publishers are making by then in the first place. After all, it looks like they are concentrating themselves on 1-3 main game series that they're milking to death and just bring some other games in between as filler if they don't have anything better to do.



Sort of.

It's dependent on if the game is designed with the PS5, Scarlett, and Windows in mind. In that case, it will depend on whether compromises are worth it. Switch 2 will likely be stronger than a base PS4, since I think tech will be there by 2023-2024. Keeping the hybrid nature will greatly limit how well the Switch 2 can perform on a technical side. But if that means Nintendo doesn't have to make a separate dedicated handheld platform, they are fine. Switch 2 should launch with a dedicated portable option to get more entry-level consumers.

Nintendo has indies on lock, ignoring an unlikely reversal of fortunes in indies on Switch. Third party on Switch 2 will likely be considerable at the start of the platform. Only time will tell if would stay. The Wii U got some third party heavy-hitters in the first year (a lot of ports, though) and then by early 2014 lost almost all third-party support.



Lifetime Sales Predictions 

Switch: 151 million (was 73, then 96, then 113 million, then 125 million, then 144 million)

PS5: 115 million (was 105 million) Xbox Series S/X: 57 million (was 60 million, then 67 million)

PS4: 120 mil (was 100 then 130 million, then 122 million) Xbox One: 51 mil (was 50 then 55 mil)

3DS: 75.5 mil (was 73, then 77 million)

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KrspaceT said:

The phrase 'Wii U made developers hesitate to jump on the Switch' is not rare by any stretch of the term, so let us ask the opposite. 

Switch continues to sell well, and Switch 2 is announced. 

Do the third parties move to it faster and stronger?

Yes.

If Nintendo sticks with the formula thats proven to work.... and does a NORMAL name for it.... like Switch 2.
(so they dont confuse consumers)

=> yes, developers will be alot less hesitant to jump in, early.