Switch 1st/2nd party 2017 vs 2018

[Lonely_Dolphin]

zorg1000 said:

Lonely_Dolphin said:

Eh, I heard 2nd party is either not a real term or technically means the consumer.

Second-party developer is a colloquial term often used by gaming enthusiasts and media to describe three different forms of game development studios:

1. Independently owned studios who take development contracts from the platform holders and produce games exclusive to that platform.^[7]
2. Studios that are partially or wholly owned by the platform holder (also known as a subsidiary) and produce games exclusive to that platform.^{[citation needed]}
3. Companies that make video game consoles, but also make games on other platforms.^{[citation needed]}

In reality, the resulting game is first party (since it is funded by the platform holder, who usually owns the resulting IP), but the term helps to distinguish independent studios from those directly owned by the platform holder. These studios may have exclusive publishing agreements (or other business relationships) with the platform holder, while maintaining independence. Examples are Insomniac Games (which previously developed games solely for Sony's PlayStation platforms as an independent studio), ADK for SNK consoles, Rareware for Nintendo, and Game Freak (which primarily develops the Nintendo-exclusive Pokémon game series).

In the hardware business, companies that make gaming hardware also makes games on other platforms, such as Commodore International, Hudson Soft (in association with NEC), SNK and Bandai, companies who have done this previously.

 

From wiki

Ah, fair enough! I always tried to avoid using the term since I wasn't sure about it.