It looks like the high sales of the Nintendo Switch, as well as the incredibly strong performance software has seen all around on the little hybrid console, has made more and more developers interested in bringing their titles to Nintendo’s platform. According to a new GDC poll of developers, 12% of the polled developers are currently creating games for Switch; meanwhile, 15% expect their next game to appear on the Switch.
This marks a stunning year on year increase for the Switch- last year at this same poll, just two months before the system’s launch, only 3% of polled developers expressed any interest in the system. This year, it was the system that saw the third most interest from developers, behind PC and PS4, but ahead of the Xbox One.
A lot of this may have to do with the fact that multiplatform developers are seeing strong sales on the Switch. Per this survey, 28% said their games were selling better on the Switch, while another 23% said sales on Switch were on par with the average- dispelling the notion that third party games don’t sell on the Switch at last.
On the other hand, it seems fewer believe in the promise of VR and AR gaming- 19% of developers said they’re making their current game for VR headsets, while 17% expected to make their next game for those platforms.These numbers are down from 24% and 23% from last year. Also down is the number of developers who feel VR and AR are sustainable long term platforms- 71% of developers do this yea, down from 74% last year.
It should be interesting to see how Nintendo capitalizes on this growing developer interest and support in its platform- the Switch could end up being Nintendo’s biggest third party successes in a long time.