Nintendo Reveal Major Indie Game Plans For The Switch
Since it’s launching a little over a year ago, it’s pretty clear at this point that the Nintendo Switch has been a huge success. Whether it is big enough to have completely saved the future of Nintendo is debatable, but at the very least, for a while, they are back on top of their game.
It seems, however, that Nintendo may want to expand on this further and make the Switch the home of indie gaming. In a report via NintendoLife, Nintendo has announced plans to release 20-30 indie games each week!
The New Home Of Indie Gaming?
For the last 10 years, it’s fairly safe to say that PC owners have seen the best of indie gaming. The platform is, after all, the most accessible in terms of both development and distribution. It seems though that Nintendo wants to get a slice of that pie and are willing to make some big offers to indie developers to give their console a go.
Nintendo’s Tatsumi Kimishima has said: “Offering enjoyable first-party games throughout the world will continue to be one of our strengths. But increasing the number of people who make games to be played on Nintendo platforms is also very important for growing our business. That is why we are working to create an environment that makes development easier. And simplifying the process of publishing games on Nintendo Switch.”
Opening The Floodgates To Shovelware?
One of the major criticisms of Nintendo in the past has been the about of shovelware. Specifically, that which the company has allowed to appear on their consoles. The Wii and DS were certainly some of the most notable examples of consoles getting flooded with sub-par, cheaply made, games. While this isn’t a direct criticism of indie games, if they do plan for such a large increase, this is certainly a possibility. Given how successful the Switch has been to date, hopefully, Nintendo will issue will consider this. At the very least, I hope they implement some stronger QA than they did before.
What do you think? Is this a good move by Nintendo? What do you think indie developers will make of this? In addition, do you worry that the Switch may get flooded with shovelware? – Let us know in the comments!
