The Switch has become a haven for indie game developers of late, and there are often well over a dozen indie games that release on the Switch every week. The reason for this is simple- they sell on the system like they sell nowhere else, and more and more indie developers have found themselves prioritizing Nintendo’s hybrid for their titles.
In the future, Nintendo wants that to continue, and, in fact, expand beyond where it is right now. Speaking at a briefing for shareholders, Nintendo senior executive officer Susumu Tanaka mentioned that the company wants to be able to release 20-30 indie games on the Switch every week, also noting that there are multiple indie games that have sold a million on the Switch already. That last part should help keep the Switch an attractive platform for indie game developers.
“We started working with indie developers during the Wii U generation,” he said. “For Nintendo Switch, we set up a development environment that supports Unity middleware, which is used on smartphones and other platforms. We are also actively engaging with indie developers at video game-focused shows and other events in different regions. We also had a Nintendo booth at the BitSummit indie game event held in Kyoto, where we showcased some games. Some of the indie games already released have gone on to become million sellers worldwide. In the future, we are looking to release around 20 to 30 indie games on Nintendo Switch per week, and we definitely expect to see some great games among them.”
Indie games have gone on to become among the best games in the Switch’s library- whether it is known hits like Stardew Valley or Hollow Knight, or completely new gems like Golf Story or Celeste, they’ve become important additions to the Switch’s library. Given how they keep selling, it is clear that Switch owners want more of them, too. And if AAA third party developers won’t support the Switch, they will be ceding the market to indie developers entirely- who, it seems, are all too happy to fill the void in their stead.
