True true. I am loving the Indies though. Only just purchased my first few.
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From a business perspective, I am flabbergasted at the lack of Switch support from big 3rd parties
- Thread starter choodi
- Start date
we'll see how well those bethesda titles like wolfenstein sell. I reckon if it bombs, there wont be much support from them...
Do we know if Doom sold well?
Do we know if Doom sold well?
It was predictable. 2 out of the 3 consoles are significantly more powerful than the Switch, and both of those consoles have versions that are significantly more powerful than the base ones. So catering to most of the consoles that exist on the market (4/5) makes it difficult to cater to the Switch also (where there is a significant gap in capability).
FIFA and NBA didn't outsell Stardew on PC either. Does that mean AAA pubs should be hesitant on PC too?
I dream of having COD on Switch with cross online play with Xbox
Portable Rocket League cross online play is like a dream come true.
Portable Rocket League cross online play is like a dream come true.
Switch isn't going to get most AAA games no matter what. Just like the Wii. It's still the weakest console around and the base for those games is covered on PS4, Xbox and PC.
True, I only have Enter the Gungeon when it comes to indies but I will get Dead Cells the second they port it.
Sadly there is no official info on Dead Cells Switch, but the dev said he wants to port it once it gets out of early access.
Bethesda obviously have a pipeline ready for idtech6 to Switch, so the cost to port future titles will be marginal compared to creating a 'for switch' version from the ground up or switch specific exclusives.
Not when they weren't budgeted for.
A bigger dev would of see around June that the Switch could carry it's sales momentum the rest of the year. If your 2017 budget was decided in November+December last year its not happening. Also the human cost internal are already busy and external the studios known for porting bigger games are already working on projects.
Panic Button have the pipeline/experience, to be exact.
But that means that the ports will be cheaper for Beth, same effect.
Panic Button for idT6 stuff but didn't another studio port Skyrim? I wonder if they'll come back for Fallout or maybe some older Elder Scrolls?
Doesn't really sound like you're looking at it from a business perspective but more from a fan perspective, OP (which is alright). No doubt, the Switch is doing really well but the target audience is just a different one from the PS4/X1/PC audience. I don't think big 3rd party publishers view the Switch as profitable as the other systems regarding GaaS and such.
Apart from that there are hardware limitations which make porting AAA games a bit more difficult than porting from console to PC and vice versa (I guess). Porting older game, like we have already seen, is just more appealing.
Apart from that there are hardware limitations which make porting AAA games a bit more difficult than porting from console to PC and vice versa (I guess). Porting older game, like we have already seen, is just more appealing.
I am not really surprised tbh.
It's a mix of underestimating the Switch due to the utter failure of the WiiU, and the historical knowledge that a lot of the hardcore Nintendo fan base tend to buy mostly Nintendo games and Nintendo-like indies/ AA games.
We will see more ports as time goes, and there might be a few attempts here and there, but I don't really expect AAA publishers to open the day and date floodgates on the kind of (more adult) games you see on PS4/ XB1 and PC.
It's a mix of underestimating the Switch due to the utter failure of the WiiU, and the historical knowledge that a lot of the hardcore Nintendo fan base tend to buy mostly Nintendo games and Nintendo-like indies/ AA games.
We will see more ports as time goes, and there might be a few attempts here and there, but I don't really expect AAA publishers to open the day and date floodgates on the kind of (more adult) games you see on PS4/ XB1 and PC.
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Well, Skyrim being #10 best selling Switch game is definitely good.
AAA games now take half a generation to develop. Even if they started development on Switch games last year we may not hear anything until 2019. I doubt Switch will ever receive that kind of support though since it caters a lot to different interests in gaming.
I might have missed it earlier in this thread, but I still wonder why new Nintendo consoles always get hesitant "let's wait and see before we decide whether or not to support it" feet-shuffling from third parties, but new Sony and Microsoft consoles don't get the same treatment and are welcomed with open arms Day One.
(Well, I'm pretty sure I know the reason, but it's still anomalous behavior...)
(Well, I'm pretty sure I know the reason, but it's still anomalous behavior...)
I think they'll come. Not all of them but there will be a notable improvement from nintendo systems of the past. It does depend on op's expectations, tho. If they think every major 3rd party game should be coming to switch, that's a bit unreasonable. But I think it's going to fill out nicely as we get closer to next gen, and will lead to something of a recovery for Nintendo on that front.
Regardless of the amount of resources it takes why should they do Nintendo's job for them?
Obviously most indies and publishers didn't expected the Switch to sell well.
Indies can react much faster to a market change. So obviously any respectable Indie team is now working on Switch ports or games.
Big publisher are way more slow in reactions. There 2017 budgets had been already set in stone for month in advance. Eventually their reaction will be the same as the Indie reaction, but much slower.
Indies can react much faster to a market change. So obviously any respectable Indie team is now working on Switch ports or games.
Big publisher are way more slow in reactions. There 2017 budgets had been already set in stone for month in advance. Eventually their reaction will be the same as the Indie reaction, but much slower.
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Wii was successful but it didn't even have the PS2 ports it deserved
Switch kind of has a similar problem, devs underrate the sales they could have on that console. Thankfully you see indies and smaller companies breaking lifetime sales on Switch while people are like "THIS GAME SHOULD BE ON PC/PS4 AND VITUH"
Switch kind of has a similar problem, devs underrate the sales they could have on that console. Thankfully you see indies and smaller companies breaking lifetime sales on Switch while people are like "THIS GAME SHOULD BE ON PC/PS4 AND VITUH"
OP seems to only be accounting for how well the Switch is selling now compared to the PS4 and not how many PS4 owners there are overall compared to Switch.
EA is doing their song and dance while other companies are looking and whether they can get the game to run on the system at an adequate level. Doom and wolfenstein are both high res and high framerate which allows for more trim space. Games that are 30fps powerhouses that struggle on the ps4 and xbone will not fare porting as well to the switch (not as easily anyways).
Im thinking this years cod will be back. Treyarch supported the wii and wii u with cod ports and the switch has shown success. That may be the next day and date 3rd party game.
Im thinking this years cod will be back. Treyarch supported the wii and wii u with cod ports and the switch has shown success. That may be the next day and date 3rd party game.
So they can sell more copies of the game and make more money and not release something many regarded as being offensive and downright trash? Its not Nintendos job to implement basic functionality into their games for them, it clearly isn't something difficult to implement given such small other games have done it. Its just laziness and incompetence from EA
That's not how market share works.
The Switch is a success, of that we can all agree, but Nintendo platforms – even at the apex of their popularity – often deliver very mixed results and subsequently uneven dividends for third party developers.
Ports are a logistically difficulty because the Switch is weak even when compared to the vanilla XBONE and original software that requires a sizeable investment of time and resources is always dicey given how dominate first party software is on Nintendo platforms. (The perception is that people buy the platform specifically to play Nintendo games)
We also don't know if these numbers will persist. People tend to forget that console cycles are marathons and currently, despite a glorious first year with two of the best games of the generation, their second year is looking rather anemic, at least thus far.
Nintendo is off to a great start but they have a ton of work ahead of them and part of that work is cultivating and enticing developers to make and publish games on their consoles.
The question isn't so much why developers aren't flocking to the console but rather what is Nintendo doing to induce them to make Switch games?
Not sure why many are clamoring for potato downports of AAA games.
Just have Nintendo make their own games along with indies
Just have Nintendo make their own games along with indies
So curious for people who know the industry a bit better than I do:
Let's say it took the big third party publishers until May/June of last year to conclude the Switch was a success and begin shifting the resources. When would we expect to start seeing the fruits of this move?
Let's say it took the big third party publishers until May/June of last year to conclude the Switch was a success and begin shifting the resources. When would we expect to start seeing the fruits of this move?
Yup. I couldn't care less that Switch will be deprived of the current MTX circus going down elsewhere.
We'll have to agree to disagree on the bolded, I think it absolutely is Nintendo's job. Also I think the 'offensive trash' comment is just a way for Nintendo fans to justify the poor sales.
If the OP wants certain types of games so badly why not go where the games are?
It takes up to 5 or 6 years to make some games now, and Nintendo systems are a gamble - even when they're successful. I don't blame any AAA developer with a big ship to turn staying cool on the device and focusing on other platforms where they've found more consistent success.
Do you not remember where Nintendo was 5 or 6 years ago? If I were a publisher head, I'd laugh at anyone who told me to develop for an upcoming Nintendo system.
Do you not remember where Nintendo was 5 or 6 years ago? If I were a publisher head, I'd laugh at anyone who told me to develop for an upcoming Nintendo system.
Exactly.....
Through the past 3/4 generations, how have the past 3rd party AAA titles sold?
Zhuge, we need some Nintendo 3rd party sales charts up in here.
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First off it actually sold well, EA said they were happy with it. I think not having a way to play with friends online in a game like Fifa is massive though - thats a huge part of the games appeal and it is pretty offensive to exclude it given its not been a problem for basically any other dev. Its ridiculous. They can manage to put FUT in there but not online with friends? Yeh thats not on Nintendo. Thats pure EA incompetence
Anyway lets move on! I don't think the OP is dying to get these games on Switch but more finds it baffling considering the opportunity to sell software to a audience that is rapidly growing + shown a great appetite for software. I own a PS4 Pro so get all multiplats on there but I still find it crazy the big 3rd parties are so nonchalant in regard to the switch. I get they already make plenty on the other consoles but these are massive multinational corps - any opportunity to make MORE money you'd think would at least try to be exploited with more than a bare minimum of effort
maybe Nintendo shouldn't have completed bombed the Wii U so long-term decision makers would have confidence investing in Nintendo. I mean y'all only have to spend $300 and 5 minutes on Amazon to invest in Nintendo but 3rd parties are talking millions of dollars and years of work.Yeah it's fuckin obvious now but nobody really knows why certain things light the market on fire and why certain things don't else there would be no failures and everyone would be successful. But yeah how dare these IDIOTS not instantly shower the gods at nintendo with time and money right after they completely bombed their previous releases. Besides Nintendo is missing a lot of the things that popular third parties need mostly in the realm of network features. The money's all in GAAS and does Nintendo event have the capabilities to support those type of titles?
I'm not sure what you expected. The switch at its best (meaning docked) is about 1/3rd the power of the original xb1 which was already looked at as underpowered but manageable by 3rd parties. Most of them literally cannot put their games on Switch. You can only downgrade your game so much before it's not even the game you wanted to make anymore. Doom was on the most flexible engine around and it they literally had to create lower settings than the lowest preset on PC to get it to run at 20-30fps and 720p.
Third parties will be waiting a full year, and then assess the market before deciding whether to start developing games, which will then only be ready by 2019/2020. By then, the switch versions of these 3rd party games will be 2-3 post luanch of the PS4/Xbox versions, and would cost $50 more than their PS4/Xbox counterparts. Sales will rank, then Nintendo gets blamed. The end.
I think it's easier if we talking about multiplatform games with pc versions, and scalable graphics configuration.
The same game could have the Xone X equivalent to the pc game on ultra, PS4 pro on high, base PS4/Xone on medium and Switch on low. If the Switch continues it's success, that could be the way multiplatform games will work prior to 2019/20.
Why is it always Nintendo vs all of PS4, XB1, and PC. Why can't the comparison be Nintendo vs PS4 or Nintendo vs XB1 or Nintendo vs PC. That tired and trite of mention of "audience doesn't overlap" doesn't work for every or third party game. We have the likes of Namco-Bandai and Capcom releasing Japanese games on the XB1 and PC over the Switch? That doesn't even make sense from any business perspective at all. It is bad business not to take risk and be completely depended on one or two platforms as well. On another note, the power argument is almost pointless considering recent releases such as Injustice 2, Need for Speed Payback, Sims 4, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Remastered are nearly playable on GT 820M and/or Intel Integrated Graphics. The previously mentioned game are genres that does sell well on Nintendo platforms such as fighting, arcade racers and life simulation and Call of Duty had two titles that moved over a million units on the Wii.
AAA third parties never needed the Switch, but JPN third parties were just dumb and are helping more and more with the downfall of their own home market by not developing for the market leader (by far).
Even more funny that people will defend these companies because they're skipping Nintendo and instead making games that will for sure bomb or lose sales by changing platforms. As some games (AAA mostly) fit the PS4/XONE audiences better, some games fit Nintendo audiences better, but I guess every game should skip Nintendo now by some posts I see.
Even more funny that people will defend these companies because they're skipping Nintendo and instead making games that will for sure bomb or lose sales by changing platforms. As some games (AAA mostly) fit the PS4/XONE audiences better, some games fit Nintendo audiences better, but I guess every game should skip Nintendo now by some posts I see.
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Maybe missing big AAA isn't as much of a deal breaker as it once was?
Poor switch-only owners will be missing out on masterpieces such as Destiny 2, Shadow of War, and Mass Effect Andromeda.
Poor switch-only owners will be missing out on masterpieces such as Destiny 2, Shadow of War, and Mass Effect Andromeda.
I said the exact same thing in the MC thread. Who the fuck is gonna care Bomberman sold 130k on Switch when SE and Namco are the biggest mobile publisher in Japan? Somehow people find this idea alien.
But Square Enix is supporting the system a lot (the president even saying how important it's to them that Switch is opening AA development again) and Bandai Namco told exactly in a shareholder meeting they were wrong about Switch and were increasing production for it. While mobile is very important, these companies still make console games and consider Japan as an important market, so it's not like Activision who really doesn't care about it.