Indie Developer Shares "Bad News" About Publishing On Switch, After Pitching His Game To Nintendo

I mean, the game looks bad... so, probably for the better.

I'm kinda ok with this. Sure, it must suck for the little guys, but at least it provides some sort of quality control. Just look at the millions of cash grab games on the App and Play Store.

I don’t want to offer any judgment on this guy’s game, because I know nothing about it. I just want to say: there’s a lot of games on the eShop, y’all. And if Nintendo is out there saying no to games, and there’s still this many games? I don’t know, man. I just... there’s a LOT of games.

Then people complain of how Nintendo let's anyone publish games on the eShop and there's some much shovelware.

Those screenshots of the game look pretty bad, I don’t blame Nintendo in the slightest for not letting the game on the platform.

This guy gets one email from Nintendo saying no he can't have a dev kit and suddenly he thinks he's the end all expert on how Nintendo handles third party relations

So they haven’t already “open(ed) the floodgates”? That’s a scary thought

Not to be too mean, but to also be a little blunt: what he was trying to pitch to Nintendo was definitely a "first game maker game" kind of project.
It looks more like it belongs in a game jam for newer, younger devs, rather than being a console or even lower end commercial release. I can see why he was rejected but rather than take it too hard, I'd prefer to see him keep at it and make something more commercial looking next time.
Gotta learn to crawl before you walk and all that.

I don't see why he can't get access. The eShop of already flooded with both bad and good games so there is no excuse, no matter how good his game is

Of his game is good it has a chance on Mobile and Steam - at last to show the quality... and then go to Nintendo...

Quit the whining and get stuff done boy! Welcome to real life. Fight for your dreams

That's great! The eshop is already full of mediocre indie titles. At least they're engaging in SOME form of quality control.

@BenAV If you ask me the Switch is already there. 20 to 30 games release each week now and only 3 or so grab my interest. That doesn't mean all the rest are bad games I'm just not interested in them.

Sorry my guy, but your game looks bad. We get like 10-20 games a week that look better than this. Not to say you won't do great things in the future, but for now it makes perfect sense why Nintendo rejected you.

That's not true at all. One of my good friends self publishes games on Switch with no problem.

So not only does he make these assumptions based on a single response email, but then he snubs his nose at putting it on a platform he knows will have it? I’m sure he’s frustrated, but... isn’t this like the equivalent of getting turned down for a position due to lack of experience and then feeling above taking a job that could give that experience?
Good luck to him in his pursuits, though.

All I'm seeing here is "entitled kid doesn't like being told 'no'."

Lol. That game looks like trash. Good riddance.

I agree with everyone here. This is a weird article. Nintendo totally reserves every right to reject whomever they wish.

This may be an unpopular response, but this was the trouble with the Wii U eshop. Too many people got on there and made absolute trash. RCMADAIX and TreeFall Studios were the biggest culprits in my view. Granted, TreeFall, I suppose “tried” but they were not trained enough in game design. But RCMADAIX was beyond lazy, and I just have a feeling Nintendo is being a little more careful cause of people like him.

And yes, the Switch eshop does have bad games, I’m not disputing that, but the Wii U eshop was particularly bad with this.

Wait...he worked on the game for one hour a day!? Most devs I know put several hours in every day on their game.

Heck I put in several hours a day on my podcasts, writing articles for the site, editing, networking.

If it's something you're passionate about, putting one hour a day isn't enough, being successful means putting in hard work.

@MoonKnight7 Hard to say the opinion is unpopular when you're basically agreeing with everyone here, haha.

Back on point though, the dev probably didn't get through because he had nothing to show that looked good. Simple as that. Go back, get some experience under your belt and come back with something decent.

So Nintendo are the bad guys here? I fail to see how.

He expects comments about his game being trash then he should also be open to the idea that platform holders wouldn't want said trash.
Also, that game looks like burnt trash.

There's some self published shovelware on switch but more unique than this person's game. It's for the best.

@Rogueleader76 the old saying goes for everyone that poured their heart and soul into a game there are others that poured five years more into their game.

@Quarth They made Bowser the president of NoA. Clearly they’re the bad guys

Doesn’t want to put his game on steam because it is overcrowded.

Is waiting for Nintendo to “open the floodgates”.

Lol

Maybe this kid should take some time to learn how to take “no” gracefully without trying to heap blame on the person telling him no. No one is entitled to publish an indie Switch game. Tough break kid, just make a better game and stop blaming others around you.

That's a hella lot of assumptions. Just ab entitled indie developer again.

Last time one was mad because Nintendo didn't promote their game, not even in an indie showcase.

@Kalmaro

Haha true, I didn’t really read the above comments.

Yes, that seems to be a big reason. That said, TreeFall and RCMADAIX didn’t have much experience either and they were allowed to publish. Nintendo was just letting pretty much everyone on during those days.

Let’s be real, there’s absolutely no reason why Nintendo should have allowed The Letter to make it on the Wii U eshop. It scored a 1/10 on here if I recall correctly.

To be actually honest, and not read Into things, this is great news. I don't trust in someone that failed to publish a game on iOS or Android and goes directly to Switch because the market is smaller. We do not need games on Switch that cannot be released on platforms that "literally" anyone can release games or apps on. I think he is hiding the true story from us. I am all about supporting Indie games, but when they fail to get into the automatic systems like Android, we should, at the very least, remain skeptical of him and his ability to deliver or tell the truth. This article is click-bait at best. Shame on you, this site gets worse and worse everyday. Don't worry guys, more content and news in the form of videos that should remain on YouTube pretending to be articles here. The site is not dead guys, just follow us on YouTube for our mediocre at best content. The game looks straight out of 1999 flash web browser with no unique game-play.

Edit: TL;DR: Good for Nintendo. We have enough garbage, no need to allow a, most likely, F2P game that now costs money because it could not bother to get onto the easiest platforms in the world first (Android/iOS). Proving yourself is hard and should be ignored when you can complain instead and force things.

I’m no game developer but I’ve played enough games since the 80s to get a good feel just from the pics...well..the game doesn't look great. I know gameplay is where things matter but honestly...it just doesn’t have even the cheap appeal of it’s not much to look at but fun..ohhh I’ll let it roll..the game is c*** and Nintendo made a good call. Hopefully more people get let down and their c*** doesn’t get published. I’m sick of going through all the trash titles on the e-shop just to find one good game. Stop whining kid.

I'm completely ok with this. I don't want actual shovelware coming to my Switch.

His game looks bad to Nintendo. Nintendo didn't want it. It's their decision.

Man...I used to love coming to NintendoLife. Lately though it seems like there's just more and more articles intended to spark controversy or click-bait. This article is 100% speculation from a guy in a video... during E3 no less. There's doezens of games that could be covered, but instead there is this one sided article. I really hope NL goes back to what made me such a fan of this site...focusing on game reviews and previews.

I am grateful to Nintendo for not allowing the eshop to turn into Steam. Steam is chalk full of mediocre, at best, games that were developed and self published by beginner developers. Thousands of games with no quality control at all.

If Nintendo allows this guy to throw his tantrum online, and then changes their mind, then it will be telling the world that all you have to do is complain to the public and Nintendo will give you the green light.

He should have been professional about it and improved the game, released it on Steam, or found a publisher. If he is truly confident his game will sell well enough, then he should prove it and then take it, or a new idea to Nintendo later on.

@MoonKnight7 I think there's some validity to them being more desperate at launch time but I think I rember even then hearing about some folks being turned away.

worldssmallestviolin.gif

His game does look and feel like an unfinished project. Perhaps with a little bit of work it might get through. Hopefully he improve the game and continue to retry again instead of just leaving it as it is.

I agree with the majority of commenters here. Barring those who haven’t released a game before except in specific circumstances seems wise to me. It may be a blanket way of dealing with it, but it sounds like a good general rule. Plus, it’s been reported before that this is one of Nintendo’s guidelines.

For what it's worth, I published Shuttle Rush on the Wii U in North America, and I still got the same answer than Adam when I contacted Nintendo about getting access to the Switch dev kit for my future projects. Having published a title in the past is not a sufficient qualification, and that's perfectly fine. Nintendo are absolutely entitled to decide who deserves an access to their development systems. I'm very grateful to even have received an answer at all, and I think Adam should be too.

Life is full of more failures than successes. If you want those successes to outshine your failures you have to take your lumps, dust yourself off and try, try (maybe cry and cuss about it) then try yet again.

Publish on steam. Try again on ios. Get some experience and try again with Nintendo. Development is work. It takes work, often more than we realize to improve and grow. But whining about it does nothing. Make your wins outnumber your losses, but know you will take a few Ls.

The “Everybody Wins a prize” generation

@Monzerol that's kind of weird. Especially with everything else they let on Switch.

To be an indie developer for a closed platform you need to at the bare minimum make a game first. Any game will do. Running into difficulty getting your game to work on iOS and then deciding it will be easier to develop for the Switch doesn't make you an indie developer. It makes you clueless. I hate to be so blunt, but it's true. It seems like people want to make a web series about their career before they've even done anything. This kid shouldn't be publishing developer vlogs if he can't even spend an hour a day on his game. He should bump his "1 hour a day" goal up to "8 to 10 hours a day" and publish a few smaller games on an open platform that is free (and easier) to develop for like iOS or Android or PC.

Try making a game that doesn't suck first, then maybe you will succeed.

The eshop is loaded with trash but I don't see why nintendo owes him a space on their store. Steam is his best option if he really wants to get the game out there.

With all the garbage in the eShop, surprised Nintendo noticed.

I'll try to address many of the comments here.
First of all. I wasn't contacting them to submit the game. The game isn't done. I was pitching the game so I could have access to dev resources so I could continue to develop the game for Switch. More on this later...

I've worked on the game off and on for 6 years as a side hobby (I know Nintendo has said the Switch isn't open to hobbyist at this point, however when speaking with Kirk Scott I brought this up and he said to email him so "we could figure this out" This made me believe I could potentially be able to get access to the dev resources so I could continue to work on the game).

Anyways, I was working on it an hour a day during the month of May to finalize things before releasing the single player campaign on iOS to help fund development of the definitive Switch version. And even before I ran into issues with the game running on older devices the game's scope became way too big for iOS. That's why I always intended to release It on a Nintendo console because the game would be perfect for it.

When the Switch came out I knew it would be the perfect platform for the game. However at the time it was not supported by my game engine. So I continued to work on the main single player campaign. When my game engine was updated to support Switch development my plan became to release the single player campaign on iOS to fund development of the Switch version and get feedback to improve the game before the Switch release. The definitive Switch release would have the battle mode, racing mode, an additional world and more features. When the iOS version was having issues running on older devices I decided it had officially outgrown mobile and so I moved forward with the Nintendo Switch version.

Also to those saying I am entitled and whining... that is far from the truth. On my Nintendo channel I also cover my journey as a game developer. I am simply sharing what happened and my plan going forward. Am I not allowed to share a little frustration? Where is the whining? Was anything about my response unprofessional? I literally just explained what happen and how I am not giving up and how I will be going the long route by making the game a success first on other platforms then try again to submit it on Switch. And if I am still not allowed to self publish then I will reach out to an indie publisher to have them publish it.

I even said that this is a GOOD thing. Because the long way will help make the game better and more of a success when it does come to Switch. I understand why Nintendo didn't let me publish and it's fine. I will keep working on it, keep improving, and keep trying.

And you can't judge the game just by looking at screenshots. Even in the video I just show basic gameplay. I have a separate video where I show the unique gameplay elements, the bosses, the incredible difficulty, the amazing music, the story, the scope and so much more.

Also when did I claim to be an expert on how Nintendo handles 3rd party relations? I just tried to make sense of what happened. And when I say open the floodgates for open development that doesn't mean suddenly every game will get on the eShop. They will still review every game. It just means they will let Indies like me have access to dev resources so we can get our games running on Switch. Being able to actually run the game on the target hardware makes development much easier. It also means we can self publish that way you don't need a publisher to take 70 percent of the profit.

But again I am fine with the situation now. I have a plan like I explained in the video so I know where I am going from here and I will keep working at it, keep improving, and keep on trying.

I acknowledge that I was in over my head. While I do believe this scope of the game is right for the Switch, I realize at it's current state it needs more work. I said that in the video, the game is NOT done. Yeah I jumped the gun and thought I could just move forward with the Switch version. But if I was accepted in I wasn't going to submit the game how it is now, I would work on all the improvements first. I wanted to be able to get it running on the Switch so I could implement the changes directly to the Switch build. It's much easier to work on a game when you are aloud to get it running on the hardware you're aiming to release it for. I think some people seem to think that I was submitting it to Nintendo to publish... I was submitting it to get access to the Switch dev portal and dev resources so I could continue to work on the game.

But again, I am fine with how the situation has played out. Instead of developing the game directly on the Switch hardware I will continue to develop it for other platforms and when it's ready I will try again on Switch. I actually have a publisher who has reached out to me about helping publish the game on Switch. But I told them I am going to put more work into the game first. All this negativity and hate is just motivating me even more keep trying and keep working harder!

Enough of these crappy looking games that aren’t worth $.50. Learn to make real games.

This guy is more concerned with selling this game, than actually making it good quality. I would just cut my teeth on something like this, don’t focus on sales so much. This would just get lost in the flood no matter what platform he released it on.

Learn from it and more time into making something that stands out. That way a good publisher will take notice and you get a better chance of being successful. It is the same thing in basically all aspects of the media industry. A shoddily made student film is not something you should focus on selling, but rather look at it as a learning experience.

Man, that game could have been the next Flappy Bird! Shame on Nintendo! 😂

I hope Nintendo NEVER "opens the floodgates". I like Steam just fine, but let's not let any random flash game onto the store.

I'm making a game on gamemaker2 too, all by myself. I've been told the game would be great for switch, but I don't have the resources to buy the licenses/dev kits etc so I won't even apply. I hope that it won't be a problem to get it there once I do have the resources, that would feel like a nightmare https://twitter.com/bitinkstudios

He sounds like a kid who just got a diploma, the real world doesn't care about your diploma they want at least 2to3 years of experience

This is not only the complete opposite of 'bad news' but video editing skill as well.

What a poor deluded sap.

While I understand his frustration, this is completely by-the-book Nintendo behavior, and he'd have known, had he talked to other devs when preparing to publish.

He should consider himself lucky that he didn't get caught up in Nintendo's game during the Wii U years, and had spent all his savings on a devkit and self published, only to get this same kind of cold shoulder treatment from the players themselves.

I wish him all the best with further game development, and hope to see his stuff on services like itch.io

I wish him the best, but until he gets better, it probably is for the better it didn't get on. Too much bad games.

You think people care? Nintendo has the right to not approve of a game for whatever reason for release on the Switch. It's their console, and considering how many indies have sung nothing but praise for Nintendo's support, one game out of hundreds being shot down really doesn't say much.

Think Nintendo have done the right thing here.

He could go to steam, increase his rep (particularly if it’s a quality game), make connections then come back to Nintendo.

@adh56 My thought exactly! I see games in the eShop of which I'm wondering how they managed to get in. Like you see some people driving wondering how they got their driving license.

Call me old fashioned, but if I ever happen upon a problem, or maybe I get knocked back, I tend to pick myself up, dust myself down and try again. Better myself. Sure, I might need a cup of coffee first, but I don't go on YouTube and moan about it. That's not the mentality that will get you in any industry.

If I was shown images of his game without context I'd say his game couldn't possibly be anything but a kind of draft/practice with placeholder graphics.

I think there needs to be atleast some standards on what can be released to a platform. But also that developers should have some standards too on what they submit.

There is no quality control. Evidence A: “Vroom In The Night Sky”!

I think this is Nintendo’s nice way of saying: ‘Look, my store is already overstocked. I don’t have space for products that probably won’t sell well.’

If you want to self publish, consoles are not the best place to do that. He should’ve known that. You need to do some small gigs before they let you on the grand stage.

From the little experience i've had with people developing for Nintendo's platforms nobody gets to develop without some previous releases and experience. It's the main thing asked when you are interviewed. Plus this game looks pretty terrible, i applaud anyone for trying to make games as it certainly isn't easy but just making game obviously doesn't entitle you to get published and be a success as i feel this guy might believe.

"He also mentions how he "could publish on Steam" but doesn't particularly like the platform and believes it is overcrowded."

I don't want to sound rude but the smartphone market is even more overcrowded than Steam.

@ReaderRagfish mate not even comparable just in 2018 there were over 9000 games released on steam! It's a dumbster fire there and "half" of those are cashgrabs

@ReaderRagfish I check Steam every day for my web site and there are maybe 30-50 new games each time (except for the week-end, only a dozen)... So yes, it's terrible.

Why is he so surprised though?
Just because you can self publish on PC easily it still isn't the normal,easy route.

How many books can you think of that are self published and in bookshops?
How many movies that get shown in cinemas?

Nature of the beast I'm afraid.

@TimeLag
Publishing your own game on a Nintendo Platform is a dream that many devs have, and I'm sure you will get there, with the effort you're putting in.

Ganbare!

He doesn't want to release on Steam because it's crowded with games. (More like flooded with games)

He does however criticizes Nintendo for curating what games are allowed onto the eShop.

Well... he sounds like a hypocrite. Sorry, but that had to be said.

Also Nintendo has become a lot more lenient about this.

[quote]...he "could publish on Steam" but doesn't particularly like the platform and believes it is overcrowded.[/QUOTE]

But the Apple AppStore is OK? D'oh!! :/

I think its good that game doesnt come to Switch, Nintendo should refuse more of the low-quality games.

A bit more information would be nice about the current situation of indie games on the eshop, like how many self published games there are and a few examples of them. You know, rather than just repeating what one random guy said during his youtube video becuase apparently that is all that is required to qualify as a new article these days.

Cry me a river.

That’s life not sure what he’s trying to achieve by showing this email 🤷‍♂️

Release on steam as we don't wamt this game on switch.

Yeah, it looks like one of those games that would have been released for free 10 years ago, because no one would have the gall to charge money for their first GameMaker project. But after the indie boom everyone wants to be the next indie darling.
Nintendo should arguably be even stricter with their screening process.

Reminder that Spelunky and Cave Story were originally free games and built their reputation that way.

Gotta say I'm ok with this, because while this is a copy pasta answer, his game doesn't look or sound very interesting (I went and watched some more stuff so I wouldn't be talking out of my butt). I'll label it quality control and move on.

We already have enough sucky indie games in the eshop, please don't open those floodgates.

I was browsing the eShop the other day and I did think to myself "The problem here is that Nintendo just don't let any indie games in. None at all. Not a single one.".

The game itself looks like a pants mobile game, so for once Nintendo Quality Assurance may have been effective

This game looks Awful
Maybe Nintendo are politely telling you something....

Game looks bad anyway, keep it away from the Switch

Why is this being reported on? Look at the game, listen to the guy talking about what he thinks are quality improvements. Of course Nintendo weren't going to accept it yet. As for the generic reply, of course! They aren't obliged to give you a free review and guidance on your work, they're busy people!

I don't want to be mean and I don't want to deter this guy at all. But this game is obviously not quite up to standard and this confirms it. So instead of getting upset about that work harder to fix it. Team up with people to help. It's sorely lacking an artist and it looks like it could really do with a more experienced designer's input. There are gaming dev forums and discord channels and IRL meetups everywhere. Join them, talk to people there, get advice, get help, make the game better and re-submit it.

Having watched Adam’s video, I must concur that his game is terribly low quality. I wish him well in his future endeavours, but launching on iOS as a premium (paid for) title, I really can’t see him shifting many units. I’d recommend he goes back to the drawing board and starting over entirely with a fresh idea.

I suspect that this kind of rejections hase little or nothing to do with quality, and more to do with incidents such as https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2019/04/indie_game_removed_from_switch_eshop_after_dev_reveals_it_contains_a_hidden_code_editor

If quality were a concern, we wouldn't have huge amounts of shovelware on the eShop. But people sneaking backdoors on your Switch certainly is a concern.

Just to be clear: I know and respect the author of "A Dark Room", and I know for a fact that he had the best intentions. I'm just saying that this kind of incident doesn't go unnoticed to a controlling company such as Nintendo. They probably assume that if you have a publisher, then they have someone to hold accountable.

Going by his YouTube channel, this guy is a hardcore Nintendo fan (many videos about how the Switch is amazing, hyping new releases, showing his Switch collection), we shall see if this rejection doesn't sour his love for the company.

Pretty strange. I was under the impression that Nintendo were letting any old garbage onto the store...

A very wierd article with a very wierd title. It is like this boy is someone's nephew at NintendoLife and we are forced to know a story that we (Nintendo Life's readers) wouldn't care less about it.

This somewhat sounds like a big fish in a little pond issue. The developer is trying to transition from a situation where he gets feedback on his project from family, friends and fans. I hope he learns from it and engages other professionals that are willing to give constructive feedback that will help him move forward. I have seen some of that here, but there isn’t a big reason to criticize someone young doing something all of us have done out of inexperience.

Now if two years later he is still in this situation and blaming others without looking inward....

The game... Looks like trash lol

Looks a lot like Dead Dungeon

It looks like a game made by a novice so I don't think Nintendo will allow that short of it having super addictive gameplay...

Nintendo can't allow every developer to just publish anything or it will flood the eShop with garbage. Sometimes rubbish does get through, but they as gatekeepers try to limit them.

And this site makes Nintendo looks like the villain. I side with Nintendo on this one. Not news worthy of this site.

I don't know if this guy sent any images or video to Nintendo along with his request but if he did I'm sure that's what threw them off. No offence but I could make a better looking 2d game and I'm not even that good. Needs it's own art style. The gameplay might be top notch but unfortunately ye world works based on first impressions

"Indie" does not mean anyone that can code a game. Nintendo still requires specific level of standards both from the game itself and the developer's body of work/reputation.

Try again on iOS, Google play store, Steam or GoG. Steam maybe overcrowded but if the game is good it will stand out.

Personally, I wish Nintendo would make it ever harder to get a game into the eshop.

He should definitely take the rejections as inspiration to improve, rather than whine. I'm working on a game myself, first time ever, not expecting much, but I'd like to go the Switch route eventually.

@ReaderRagfish To get some perspective, in 2018 Steam had more games submitted than 10 years of the platform combined.

@frogopus Ok so where's your game then ?, If u can replicate this in a few days then I can only imagine what u cud develop in a few weeks, u shud have no issues in making it on2 d eshop...

I feel like we aren't getting the full story here. You don't have to pitch a game to get access to the SDK.

A little constructive criticism (you're probably not reading but just in case)

Looks like you know what you're doing as far as the basics of game development and that idea of a game looks like it has promise. Good for you! But keep working on it.

It looks like you made the basics of a game, but expected everyone to welcome you with open arms. That's not how anything you create and try to sell works. You need to put it on any platform that'll take it, beggars can't be choosers, and use that to continue building it and get constructive criticism from reviewers to keep making it better. Also, you've gotta market your product. Get people to learn about about it, build a reputation. Once it's polished, THEN see about going to Nintendo as the NEXT STEP not the first.

He knows the reason, just does not want to accept it.

"he's wanting to self-publish and hasn't created anything successful previously, but is frustrated as to why there is no reason attached to this reply"

It’s unanimous, AshBaker’s ‘SpikeBlade’ was not approved by Nintendo because the game is poorly-designed, poorly-coded, and poorly-made overall.

@Monzerol I bought Shuttle Rush some time ago. It wasn’t bad but the audio effects were off and unpolished and that turned me off of the game.

Is anyone else actually quite reassured by this? I mean, it looks like Flappy Bird...

I have a feeling that Nintendo is beginning to vet their games better because of all the shovelware, this guy just missed the window.

Looks bad and boring even if it was a free mobile game.

I remember being a young musician and getting rejected from a bunch of different compilations and things. It seems like a huge deal at that age. But he should keep making games
— iterate on the idea, etc. Every time, it’ll get a little more polished. I can kind of see why N might have passed on this one, but eventually he could create something that’s so rad it can’t be denied!

@grayadamson 100% agreed, he needs to quit whining and get back on his feet. People don't liek your game go and make a better one, don't take to youtube crying about it.

It looks awful and if Apple past on it that's saying something.

Just seems a case of sour grapes and someone seeking attention, word snowflake sprigs to mind.

Also is this guy related to anyone on Nintendo life as it's strange now this article is saying Nintendo is the bad guy but everyone else can see why they did it as the games is poor.

This kid is everything that's wrong with the world today, doesn't get an easy hit game first try, takes to the internet to whinge about it.

Perhaps he should start by getting a deal with a publisher. If the game is good and there's a market for it, they'll consider it, but by the looks of it, he should start with making a good game.

The article, and especially the title, paint a completely different picture to what actually went down. The guy, who commented on this very article but most people seem to have skipped that post because TOO LONG DIDN'T READ, just like they skipped the video because TOO LONG DIDN'T WATCH, explained (again) that he wasn't trying to get his game published (yet), he just wanted access to the developer tools - which, might I add, is quite useful if you want to create a game. 95% of all comments are talking about how of course the game shouldn't be published, but it was never about that.

Weird how Nintendo wont publish a game nobody would want to buy.

I'd be happy to have an amateur developers tab in the eshop for stuff like this, but I kind of understand not wanting to keep the floodgates totally open. The Switch has a huge clutter problem with shovelware and I'm not eager to see it get quite as bad as the app store.

Nintendo, please do not open the floodgates! 😫

That looks awful. No wonder they declined it.

Seems like they’ll only allow bad games if they’re not self-published!