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Forums - Nintendo Discussion - Is the Switch's 3rd Party Support a Major reason why the Switch is selling well?

 

Switch's 3rd Party support a major reason for high sales?

Yes, Biggest reason why the Switch is selling 0 0%
 
Yes, combination of 1st a... 26 39.39%
 
No, 3rd Party support is ... 29 43.94%
 
Switch's 3rd Party suppor... 11 16.67%
 
Total:66

What do you guys think, is the Switch's 3rd party support a major reason why the Switch is selling well or is it barely contributing to the Switch's high sales?



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No.

Not at all.



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Not necessarily. It certainly helps the Switch, and it's cool to play third-party games in handheld mode. But there wouldn't have been much third-party support if the console didn't sell on the strength of first-party games. The Wii U was overpriced, tough to develop for, and the first-party games did not excite to the level Nintendo hoped. Third-parties mostly jumped ship by 2014, but that wasn't the biggest reason Wii U tanked.
It's great for players and companies for Switch to have good third-party support, but it's not one of the biggest reasons Switch is a smash hit.



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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No, or at least not a lot. Just how many third party games on the console have sold over a million, for example? People appreciate the wide arrange of third games available, but in the end they're just there to complement the appeal and the novelty of the console itself and the Nintendo branded games made for it, which are the real stars of the Switch's success, I think.



My bet with The_Liquid_Laser: I think the Switch won't surpass the PS2 as the best selling system of all time. If it does, I'll play a game of a list that The_Liquid_Laser will provide, I will have to play it for 50 hours or complete it, whatever comes first. 

It's clearly both. There are tons of people that have bought Switches for first party games alone, no doubt, but there are a decent chunk of that pie that bought Switch so they could rebuy their favorite 3rd party games and play them on the go (like Skyrim or Doom). Unlike previous generations, where there was only a graphical downside to Nintendo ports, this generation of ports has the massive advantage of portability.



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I think mainstream 3rd party games like Minecraft, Rocket League, Fortnite and Overwatch certainly helped to attract a lot of players. These are the games that the people talk about a lot so the Switch became a lot more attractive because not only can you play awesome 1st party titles but also popular games that all your friends play. I think these games were quite important in the Switchs' history because they contributed to a diverse and interesting library. The upcoming Apex Legends might be another game in that same regard.

90% of 3rd party games are shovelware on the eshop, though, and many pump out their stuff just because they know that the Switch is hot right now, and at the end of the day it's still Nintendo who does the heavy lifting with their own games, so I'd say 3rd parties are certainly helping, but not a major reason for the Switchs' success.



Yes. More to play keeps system health and selling. Show me a successful system with little 3rd party support. "but but Wii!" Wii had a type of audience and a lot of games to appeal to that crowd not made by Nintendo. It also got a lot of "core" games by Nintendo and 2nd and 3rd parties. Switch has the healthiest 3rd party support Nintendo has seen on a home system since SNES.



Bite my shiny metal cockpit!

I think they helped plenty. We have seen what happens when there's a lack of third party games with the wiiU but the switch's success certainly isn't only them either.

The way I see it is that one of the main reasons that people buy Nintendo consoles is to play Nintendo games. However there needs to be a buffer between their releases as Nintendo can't bring out a new game every month. While people wait however many months to play the next major Nintendo title, they need something to keep them occupied. So having third party games in between Nintendo games is a recipe for success. That + choosing Nvidia and making it portable were all excellent calls on Nintendo's part.



                  

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I’m not sure if third party support is a major reason, but it’s a reason nonetheless. Nintendo first made its first party games a reason to invest on the Switch. As the user base grew, more games from third parties started releasing.

I think we have to look more into the Indies than the traditional third party games that contributed majorly to the Switch. Nintendo built the Indie relationship back in the Wii days with WiiWare and it built throughout this gen despite the Wii U’s lackluster performance and the 3DS’ initial struggles. The Nindies branding has done wonders for the devs wanting to make games on Switch.

Sure, games like Skyrim, Bioshock, Witcher 3, Borderlands, DOOM, etc. have been big for the Switch as most of those games have never been on a Nintendo platform before. And it would be nice if Japanese devs start providing more support and original games on Switch. But Nintendo has not been reliant on third parties and, even with next-gen, never will be.



The main reasons for the Switch being such a huge success is the hybrid concept which everyone loves, and the spectacular first party games. Obviously BotW set the tone for the first party games and helped Switch become THE system to own. Indie games have also become a major contributor to success, but that is really based off the hybrid concept - instead of playing all the best indie games in front of a tv or at computer screen you can play them anywhere! Big third party titles have largely been absent from the Switch outside of a handful of well known ones. Games from major third party companies help diversify the library beyond the Nintendo system sellers and the indies, of course adding to the appeal, but by themselves are not a major reason for the Switch's success. Note here I am kinda separating indie games from third party games.