If you've been keeping up with the avalanche of information coming out of Nintendo's recent earnings release, you'll probably be aware that the Switch is having a grand old time. Lifetime Switch console sales have now surpassed the SNES, and Nintendo's strong lineup of first-party titles are comfortably selling by the millions.
As it happens, third-party releases are also on the up. In Nintendo's Financial Results Briefing, published earlier today, the company has revealed that "other software publishers' titles continue to rise, with an increase of more than 50% over the previous year seen between April and December 2019".
Of course, third-party releases have been coming in thick and fast just lately, with titles like The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt - Complete Edition, Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen and plenty more besides launching in the period mentioned. Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa has provided a comment on this positive trend, noting that developers are bringing games to Switch from "a wider range of regions than ever before".
"We had a development environment ready from an early stage for Nintendo Switch, and as many developers have seen the Nintendo Switch installed base continue to grow, they are joining in from a wider range of regions than ever before. Titles from other software publishers are being sold in a variety of genres for Nintendo Switch, and these sales continue to grow alongside the growth of the platform itself."
Those dark days of missing out on most major third-party releases certainly do seem behind us now, with more games than we could ever hope to play arriving on Switch.
Are you liking the third-party support being shown to Nintendo's latest machine? Tell us below.
[source nintendo.co.jp]
Comments 36
Not pictured: Microsoft/Xbox, Tencent, Nicalis, Devolver Digital, CD Projekt Group, and (potentially) Valve Corp.
Sadly deceased: OG Telltale, Starbreeze(?).
False friends: EA, Capcom, and Konami.
Well that's good news. If we could get call of duty and ea games then I'd be happy with third party support. Or how about some halo 1-3 or sea of thieves. Most importantly F1 please!!!!
Is EA aware of this?
Maybe EA will develop for the platform now that there is a market for third parties...oh wait, they are too scared about the first party games driving device growth haha
Does this stat include the sales for all of heavily discounted titles? If so, the percentage increase seems a little less impressive, even if it is great news.
turns out when 3rd parties port major high profile AAA games, then sell well. Who'da thunk!?
But also, Atlus has released no games that I am aware of on Switch yet. SMTV is missing in action and there are still no Persona games...
Percentages don't count for ****! Give us actual numbers or it just looks like you're hiding something...
@Coolmeesje True. Bethesda and 2K Games is basically the only 2 major studios supporting Switch.
UBI, EA, Activision etc. doesen't release new major games on Switch at all.
Most third parties on Switch is porting old games, and Bethesda is practially the only one you can count on for brand new big budget games.
@Mando44646 Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE is by Atlus, even if it was published by Nintendo, so it just about scrapes in! Persona 5 Scramble is out in a few weeks too.
Where's our Shin Megami Tensei V, though, eh? Eh?
Yes and no, major Western 3rd party AAA support could be better, and sometimes the Switch misses games that just seem baffling like the Disney Afternoon Collection.
Here we go again... unless they give you the base number, the chart is meaningless. +50% of what?
Dragon Dogma and Witcher 3? Really, those are the examples of big 3rd party support We going with 🤦♂️
The Wii has better major 3rd party support than the Switch, I think, aside from otaku games. It had quite a few 3rd party exclusives
@Ventilator If you're only talking about western companies, you're right. Otherwise, you're completely wrong.
Just look at Square and Bandai, for example.
@the_beaver I mainly were thinking of western with more commercial titles that sells more than the Asian ones usually, except for Nintendo exclusives.
This is good, I bought a Switch mainly to enjoy my favorite third parties on the go so this is great news. Hopefully more ports come soon
@Coolmeesje
The issue for the big 3-4 is that it's probably just too much trouble to downgrade the games for the Switch.
PS5/XBXXX will be even worse. I mean; if I were EA/Activision I wouldn't spend a bunch of money dumbing down whatever game for a cellphone. Especially since you'd be hard pressed to present that those games would even sell to the Switch audience.
I know if I were a big COD fan I wouldn't want to play the game on a Switch. Why take the massive quality hit as well as the horribad online experience N released.
Indie and low end games are perfect for the Switch. Same as it was with the gameboy, gba, ds, psp, vita, and so on.
@Ryu_Niiyama "Here at EA, we're very big fans of the Switch, we just love it, we use it all the time. And Nintendo always has very entertaining content. For our properties, we like to find the right brands and match them with the platforms that we feel have the right fit for our games. We don't feel Switch really fits the vision we have for our properties in the broader scope and outreach at this time. We're always watching where our players are and make sure we put the right franchises where the players are. "
There. Saved them the trouble.
Someone please go tell EA
It would be a surprise if this wasn’t the case given how much Third Party support increased last year
Wait... Autodesk? They make games? Is this the same company that does like, business software and stuff?
On another note, I've seen Criware involvement all over my Game Collection. Those guys get around!
@GrandScribe EA would just give us more stripped down, content missing, half done ports. Then when those inferior, older, unfinished and buggy versions of the games sold poorly, they'd hold a press conference, pull support again, and tell everyone "Nintendo gamers just don't want our products" and all but say "It's their fault, we did nothing wrong!"
The only IPs I would even consider giving EA any money for now would be the Mass Effect Trilogy and maybe a version of the Sims, but even that I doubt because the Sims is sold in literal pieces and you have to buy 23 content packs to get the whole game...
@Alpha-2002 Add Atlus to absent as well
Yeah okay. Still so many no names missing
NiNtEnDo gAmErS DoN't BuY 3rD pArTy GaMEz.
Seriously though, great news. 👍
@Heavyarms55 legacy edition nhl, Fight Night, Madden is better than nothing. Maybe not to you but to many others they would gladly buy them. The switch is severely lacking in a few areas, sports, driving games and multiplayer shooters.
Third party support has been pathetic on switch. Unless you count indies and old ports from at least 3+ years ago. Not too many day n date third party games. Nintendo sheep will say otherwise, but those who no, no.
Square Enix has been there from day 1 my favourite 3rd party developer. I should know as I downloaded I am Setsuna, Fast RMX and Shovel Knight treasure trove on launch.
More than enough decent third party support. I have the biggest backlog I have ever had on the Switch.
@Krull "Persona 5 Scramble is out in a few weeks too."
Only if you can read Japanese. Atlus refuses to be reasonable and communicate plans to Western fans
@Mando44646
Not sure if you're aware of this, but Atlus publishes games as well as develops. TMS#FE, P5 Scrambled Eggs, and eventually SMT V are developed by them. (TMS and SMTV are exclusives btw). But Atlus USA are the publishers of Rock of Ages 2, Alliance Alive HD, Caligula Effect, and they also had a mix of dev members who worked on Final Fantasy games in the past. It may not seem like it, but Atlus does indeed support Switch. Two exclusives and multiple multiplatform games seem like support to me.
@sixrings And are your going to be cool with EA's BS and giving you deliberately inferior versions of those games, missing features, running poorly and missing content?
I agree that the Switch is missing some games in terms of multi player FPS games and driving games, but I'd rather have actually good ones from companies that are not openly dismissive of their fans and condescending to the platform.
Just goes to show if the developers put the effort in, the sales will be there. Power is irrelevant and maybe now we can finally stop over glamorizing shiny pixels over great gameplay and narratives.
Someone who puts graphics in the top 5 isn't a gamer anyway...
All that is left for me is a solid online military shooter with voice chat (CoD, Battlefield, Medal of Honor)
@Coolmeesje but what is 3rd party support anymore? Just another entry in a series we’ve all played too many times? I would much rather some new IP than another modern warfare or (god help me) assassins creed...
"The Wii U days are long gone"
Bad comparison: A bad selling console (wii u) vs a good selling console (Switch)/ retail games versus downloads. 90% of the games on the Switch are downloads, and with downloads there's a lower barrier. People easier buy a download then going to a shop.
However: They always said games sell consoles. But its the other way around. When you have a succesfull console (Switch), every game sells. On the Wii u not a single quality game could convince people to buy the console.
@sword_9mm
"The issue for the big 3-4 is that it's probably just too much trouble to downgrade the games for the Switch."
It's never too much trouble when you stand to make a profit. Unfortunately, as it stands, EA just wants to make a profit off of cash grabs when it comes to Nintendo's platforms.
"If I were EA/Activision I wouldn't spend a bunch of money dumbing down whatever game for a cellphone. Especially since you'd be hard pressed to present that those games would even sell to the Switch audience."
The experience wouldn't be dumbed down, graphically downgraded yes, but not dumbed down. Ports like "The witcher III" and "Doom" are examples of this. And Call of Duty has a cellphone version that's actually pretty good, making a missing Switch version of this popular franchise all the more perplexing. But then again, it's EA we're talking about here.
"I know if I were a big COD fan I wouldn't want to play the game on a Switch. Why take the massive quality hit as well as the horribad online experience N released."
If I were a big Call of Duty fan I wouldn't want to play it on a console at all.; if we're to discuss an optimal platform, PC is where it's at. But if I were to play it on a console, why not have the option of taking it with me on the go? Right now, only the switch offers that option. And allow me to reiterate that it wouldn't be dumbed down, that is if EA gave it a proper effort.
"Indie and low end games are perfect for the Switch. Same as it was with the gameboy, gba, ds, psp, vita, and so on."
I'll have to agree with you on this one, but not wholeheartedly. The Switch's mobility does make it perfect for indies and casual titles, but it has the proven capability of providing console-grade "core" experiences, a fact that keeps it flying off of store shelves. And, no offense, but it would be silly to think that the Switch's massive success so far can be mainly attributed to it being a good indie machine, especially considering the fact that the scope of its indie library pales in comparison to mobile smart devices.
@Alpha-2002 Mega man 11, Ghost and Goblins Ace Attorney Resident Revelations 1 and 2, Okami, a little game called Monster Hunter Rise, Stories 2, the Resident Evil GAMES, Okami and Dragon's Dogma. Capcom is the best 3rd Party on the Switch right now. Also, Konami is becoming a big supporter. Replace them with Sega and Namco.
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