You’ve probably already noticed the high number of indie games making their way to the Switch now and in the near future. That’s no fluke: SteamWorld series developer Image & Form recently told MCVUK that Nintendo has finally come around and is now taking the same approach to digital publishing as its competitors, Microsoft and Sony.
With the way technology has advanced in various areas — the home console and portable gaming on mobile devices, in particular — Nintendo’s decided to make things easier for developers. It seems that the company has loosened its grip on the processes in which developers must participate regarding quality assurance and the creation of different versions of games for various regions.
Image & Form Community Manager Julius Guldbog further explained:
“But with the Switch, we only have to make one version and only have one launch – and that’s one version for the entire world, so we’ll have the same version in the US, Europe and a little bit later, Japan and China as well. That saves so much work. It means we can do the translations ourselves, we don’t have to have a new publisher for one specific region – it’s going to be so much easier. They’re basically taking the Steam or App Store approach: one version of the game for the entire world.”
It seems that Nintendo has restructured its entire system when working with developers, for Mr. Guldbog stated that his newer experiences with the company are incredibly streamlined and much more modern than its previous practices.
“… Even Nintendo’s approach to how they get new indies to join the Switch family – nowadays, they see a good game at a convention and they just walk straight up to them and ask them to develop for Switch. From what I know, they’ve never done that before, so I think they are getting with the times. They know more than anyone what they did wrong with the Wii U, and 3DS in some cases as well, and they really want to fix that.”
This isn’t the first time since the Switch’s release that we’ve heard Nintendo’s changed its tune with third parties. Back in early March, more reports hit that Nintendo has started reaching out to smaller market teams.
As far as Image & Form goes, it’s maintaining a high level of confidence that the Switch is on the same level as the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 pertaining to the quality put into the games and the development process leading up to their creations.
It’s wonderfully refreshing to continue hearing such high praises from third parties alongside the consistent stream of indie game announcements from developers. We, too, have every bit of confidence that Nintendo has turned over a new leaf and is heading in an exciting and successful direction.
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Written by Lauren Ganos
Creative Director, Managing Editor
Designer and writer by day, gamer by night, Lauren dreams big when it comes to creative endeavors. Perhaps that's why she's taken on the roles of creative director and managing editor for Nintendo Wire. If she had a video game superhero alias, it might just be The Visionary, a true keeper of imaginative order.
