by Ian Pemberton
Since its reveal in October, developers have been showing mixed signs toward the upcoming Nintendo console, the Switch. Developers including Electronic Arts (EA), Capcom, Take-Two, and Ubisoft have all made comments about upcoming partnerships between themselves and Nintendo, but nothing definitive has reached the public.
Nintendo’s stock fell to the lowest point in a month’s time shortly after the unveiling, revealing an initial underlying skepticism towards the upcoming system.
The Wii U’s lack of third-party support was compounded by the fact that many developers found the system difficult to design for due to its specialized nature, one of the many that caused the infamous Virtual Boy to fail spectacularly. However, Nintendo is trying to prioritize third-party support as a key feature. Take-Two President Karl Slatoff says that “The Nintendo folks I think are making a great effort to reach out to third-party developers, which I think is fantastic.”
While many of these companies were mentioned in the official press release for the Switch, many of them are still reluctant to mention details or specifics. CFO of EA Blake Jorgensen mentioned only days prior to a positive statement from Peter Moore (Chief Competition Officer) that despite willingness to cooperate, many higher-ups have reserved feelings about the console due to mobile competition. Jorgensen speaks in an interview, “Will people be interested in a portable device alongside their regular portable device that they have today?”
Despite the fact that Skyrim is played in the actual release trailer for the Switch, Bethesda refuses to confim whether or not it plans to release the game on the console, although they have released that a partnership between the two companies is ongoing. Nintendo also mentioned during an October analyst meeting that they plan on giving more information about the system during a livestream on January 13, following the presentation with live public demonstrations world-wide.
Until then, the only game to be officially confirmed for the Switch is ConcernedApe’s Stardew Valley. Whether or not this is because of Nintendo’s secretive nature over the ‘NX’ or developers getting cold feet remains to be seen.
Sources: GoNintendo, GamesIndustry, Nintendo Images: Nvidia’s Blog, Wired, IBTimes
