Why do Nintendo's new Switch IPs get called "failures"?

[Kai_Mao]

Not every new IP will succeed. I mean, The Order: 1886 and Ryse: Son of Rome are examples as such.

1-2 Switch is a sales success, despite a rather mediocre critical performance. And, interestingly, it's still selling pretty well. Guess it goes to show, regardless of quality, the game is appealing to new Switch owners, who are not all hardcore gamers for what we like to believe. If it's appealing to these people, then so be it. Nothing wrong with that. What makes gaming cool is that there are a variety of audiences you can reach out to with various tastes.

ARMS is a sales success and had a decent critical performance. 2+ million copies is nothing to scoff at. Is it the next Splatoon? No. But I would have to believe Kosuke Yabuki, who directed Mario Kart 8, is pleased regardless and, hopefully, this will encourage him and Nintendo to experiment in other new ideas to create new IPs. Hopefully, they can build upon ARMS and expand upon the characters' and their personalities.

Nintendo Labo is an interesting case as there has not been a product that is similar to it. Developed by Tsubasa Sakaguchi, one of the co-directors of Splatoon, Kouichi Kawamoto, who developed games like 1-2 Switch, Brain Age, WarioWare, and Miitopia, and Yoshiyasu Ogasawara, it revolves around Nintendo's toy-making mentality and history, using cardboard products and apply them in a gaming environment. Is it a sales success? Hard to tell as it shipped around 1 million from what we last heard about it's sales status (prior to the third kit releasing), but some were expecting it to drive Switch sales while we were waiting for Smash, Pokemon, and Mario Party. On that end, it didn't do the job. Regardless, Labo is an intriguing product and I hope Nintendo does not stop being creative in gaming.