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JWeinCom on 27 June 2025
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I think the bigger problem is that there are so few first party games announced. In terms of major releases, we have DK, Air Riders, Tomodatchi thingy, and a couple of crossgen titles.

So, idk whats up. It's possible it's a planned strategy. That Nintendo figures it's going to sell as many as it can make so far, so why not hold off till the enthusiasm dies and announce more. Or maybe there's just not a lot in the pipeline.

Either way, we do have a few positive signs. SF6 is on it, and this is really the first time Nintendo has actually had the most current version of Street Fighter on its a console since SNES. FF7 Remake is on the way, Elden Ring, and Madden for the first time since the cube. Hopefully the lineup in general will be fleshed out more in the coming weeks.

Mummelmann said:

The Switch has sold insanely well, the same can't be said for the 3rd party software overall on the platform. 

In the top 30 all-time sales list, only 3 titles are non-Nintendo titles or franchises (Monster Hunter, Stardew Valley, and Minecraft). Minecraft having surprisingly low  sales at around 6 million also shows us something about the overall interest level of 3rd party title shoppers on the Switch (heck; I think it even passed 2 million globally on the Vita with its poor installed base). No 3rd party game besides Minecraft seems to have sold beyond the 5 million mark on the Switch, only a handful managed 4 million. Meanwhile, a whooping 21 1st party titles have sold 12 million or above; that's 21 titles selling twice or more that of the highest selling 3rd party game, that's too much not to be pegged as a significant trend on the platform. 

In the top 100 list, only 23 games are 3rd party, of which almost every single one is an Indie title, puzzle/board game, or rhythm game. The odd title which falls under more classic AAA, or at least AA status, are titles that barely scrape above 1-1.5 million in sales (RE: Revelations Collection, Dragon's Dogma 2, Dark Souls: Remastered, are among those).

Nintendo platforms are sometimes insane money-making machines, for Nintendo, but their strained relationship with 3rd parties is well-known, and not built wholly on spite and childishness (as many would otherwise tell you). The Wii and Wii U had the same issue when it came to selling 3rd party titles, this simply has not been Nintendo's strong suit since the early nineties and back. 

That really doesn't track. Because third parties keep releasing games on Switch. Granted not as much as PS5, but easily the best third party support possibly since the SNES days. I don't think they're doing it to lose money.

You mentioned Dragon's Dogma 2. I assume you mean Dark Arisen, because I don't think 2 is on Switch. But, 2 sold about 3.7M on Xbox/PS5/PC. So in context, "barely scraping above 1m"doesn't seem so bad. We have some other positive signs too. DB FighterZ sold about 2.5m on Switch, about 1/4 of its overall sales.

Comparing the sales of third party games on Switch has two problems. First off, you seem to be going off of wikipedia, which is not a great idea. They simply don't have access to a lot of the data, so unless companies share it. For instance, the 6 million you quoted for Minecraft is just based on what we have public knowledge of, which according to the Wikipedia page, is just the data from Famitsu, Gematsu (for France), and Spain. That likely does not include digital figures and more importantly doesn't include the US and misses a huge chunk of the EU. I think it is likely that the actual sales would be closer to 10 million if we're being very conservative. Likewise Dark Souls Remastered's info seems to come from CESA which may only track Japanese sales.

The bigger problem is that Nintendo games sell really well. Minecraft's 6 million may put it at 30 on the Switch list, but if we keep Wikipedia as our source, it would have been in the top 20 on PS4 and the second best selling game on PS5. Sticking to official figures, I believe Marvel's Spiderman was PS4's best selling first party title with about 22 million in sales, but it would have been the 8th best selling first party on Switch. But relative placement on the top sellers doesn't necessarily mean lower sales and profit.

So, I really don't think we can conclude, at least based on what you've posted, that third parties are doing poorly. Many just don't report sales at all and many don't break it down by platform. But considering the volume of games released by Switch, I think it's fair to say that it is a profitable platform for many developers.