Why is the Switch still not getting big games from 3rd parties? October edition

[Mnementh]

potato_hamster said:

Mnementh said:

Yes, you're right, EA tried actually on Wii. And with BoomBlox being a million seller I wouldn't say it was without success.

On Switch already are experiments underway. Go Vacation (Namco), Sports Party (Ubi), Hyper Sports R (Konami) for instance trying to get again at the motion sport games. Civilization shunned so far consoles but tries with Switch.

I just want to be clear, I agree with you in General. I think Nintendo's audience does need to be treated differently than Sony or Microsoft's. It seems as times have gone on that Nitnendo's audience becomes narrower and narrower in its tastes, and I think it's smart to try and cater to that.

Nintendo doesn't get big third party games because third parties know that big games won't sell. The continuously test this in some form of another (like Bethesda is with the Switch) and they continuously get the same feed back - "This is neat and all, but we're really not that interested. Ohh look a new game published by Nintendo!".

I wouldn't that equal with big. Just Dance became insanely big. It's just that the usual 3rd-party publishers have a usual way of making games, and Nintendo breaks out of that. Which means the publishers have to make risks or just ignore Nintendo. If they take risks, they sometimes get rewarded like with Just Dance. But the other way is simpler and the CEO will get no shit in the investors conference.

WhatATimeToBeAlive said:

Mnementh said:

You kinda make a strange argument that mixes RPGs with action games. RPGs sell well on Switch:

BattleChasers Nightwar: 55K on PS4, 41K on Switch, 30K on XB1

Ys VIII: 170K on PS4, 60K on Switch (it had 55K on PS4 at the same time after launch) and no release on XB1

Shining Resonance Refrain: 56K on PS4, 60K on Switch, 7K on XB1 (released first on PS4)

I am Setsuna: 74K on PS4, 49K on Switch, no Xbox release

Lost Sphear: 24K on PS4, 42K on Switch, no Xbox release

Switch releases of RPGs hold well against the PS4 version even as late ports and clearly outdo XBox version. Add to that exceptional sales of Switch-exclusive RPGs Octopath Traveler and Xenoblade Chronicles 2 and you can clearly see that Switch has a RPG-affine userbase. It matters for RPGs without a doubt more than the XBox One and does look not bad compared to PS4. Hence as a result the flood of RPG releases and announcements for Switch.

I am also not so sure about the driving genre. As I see it there are the simulation subgenre (Gran Turismo, Forza, etc.) which focuses on realistic physics and damage models. Besides that you have arcade racing, like Mario Kart, Sonic Racing, Burnout etc. The second one does actually pretty well on Switch with lots of releases, the first one is focusing more on PS4 and Xbox One.

But those aren't AAA games (or even AA), except Xenoblade Chronicles 2. And only Xenoblade and Octopath Traveler (and Skyrim) have sold well but not close to Witcher 3, Fallout, Elder Scrolls, Final Fantasy XV,... numbers.

Elder Scrolls is the same as Skyrim.

None of the big names you said is recent. Witcher and Fallout are from 2015, FFXV from 2016.I named current games. The currently released RPGs are for the most part on Switch and do sell well as pointed out in the numbers I gave. That's why even more RPGs come to Switch, most prominently with the Final Fantasies recently announced by Square.

Megiddo said:
I'm super interested in seeing how Civ VI ends up doing on Switch. I'd have to think that the crossover between 4/5 X gamers and Switch owners is quite thin. That said the idea of playing Civ VI on an airplane without needing to buy an expensive laptop appeals to me greatly. So if others are like me (with more disposable income) I could see Civ VI maybe not doing very well in terms of pure software sales, but actually widening the currently relatively narrow demographic focus for the Switch.

This is also a very interesting thing for me to watch. Civilization so far is PC centric and released on mobile (and I have no idea how much success they have there). I guess consoles have their draw, because on paper PC is just the better gaming platform, but still consoles are a thing. So I think the convenience of consoles keeps them alive. So that may build also the userbase for Civilization at Switch: gamers who don't care for PC-gaming but care for this gameplay. I think they expect 250-500K sales, if Civ sells 1M+ on Switch it probably secures future releases.

I'm also very interested if Anno and Settlers follow this move. Although looking at it, it seems like Settlers is dead. So... only Anno.