Nintendo’s stated aim with the Switch was to create a platform that was easy to develop for, so that more developers would be compelled to put their titles on it. Nintendo also wanted to put a cap on rising development costs. And after all, this was the reason that they sought Nvidia’s help with their development tools for the Switch- to ensure they’d be able to meet both their goals.
Well, it sounds like those goals were met. Speaking with German website Spieleveteranen, industry veteran Julian Eggebrecht, who co-founded of Factor 5 (whom you may remember as the folks who did Star Wars Rogue Squadron and Lair), discussed Nintendo’s newest machine, noting that the Switch is more powerful than a Wii U, but less powerful than the Xbox One. He also said that it is even easier to develop for than the PS4 (which until now has been a gold standard for ease of development), with all modern GPU standards and features, meaning porting to it shouldn’t be difficult at all.
If this is true, it should explain why third parties are so big on the Switch, in spite of its purported weakness. Whether this pans out well for Nintendo, is something that we will have to see for ourselves over the coming months.
