Nintendo has suffered something of a blowback following its Super Smash Bros Ultimate-heavy E3 2018 Direct. The Big N’s stock has fallen since the showing (ridiculous really, as Nintendo did say that it would be focusing on Smash Bros). Nintendo of America president, Reggie Fils-Aimé however, has been talking about the stock fall and let out some interesting tidbits. A key issue for the market analysts was the lack of Switch third-party titles.
Speaking to Bloomberg, Reggie had quite a lot to say on Nintendo’s E3 showing. It’s safe to say he thought the fall in stock value was undeserved. One of the major concerns of analysts was the lack of Switch third-party offerings. A rationale that Reggie found “difficult to understand”. He argues that third-party support on the console is “exceptionally strong” and that more are “in development”.
Reggie on Nintendo Switch Third-Party
“If that was the rationale for raising a concern about the stock, then that one is a bit difficult to understand. These are games that are being shown on Switch at E3. And certainly we’ve got more than these that are launching on the platform and in development. Our third-party support right now is exceptionally strong because the platform is growing and growing worldwide. The development environment is straight-forward for the developers. And the consumer is highly engaged. That’s what third-party developers want to see.”
While the E3 direct didn’t show a lot aside from Smash Bros Ultimate, there was some room in there for third-party titles. The likes of Fifa 19, Overcooked 2 and Wolfenstein 2 The New Colossus are all launching on the Switch by the end of this year. Indeed, one of the biggest games of recent times, Fortnite was announced as available after the Direct – a title which has since been downloaded over 2 million times.
Reggie Says That Switch Third-Party Games Will be Developed Quicker Very Soon
Nintendo has struggled with garnering support from third-parties in the past, and while the Switch isn’t getting everything (presumably down to its relative lack of power), it is doing far better than the Wii U was. An issue on the Switch, however, has been how long it takes to get third-party games on the machine. Reggie argues that this is something that will come with time thanks to time spent developing on the console.
“We’re talking today about a platform that is 16 months old. The development cycle today is multiple years. So I would argue that beginning at the end of this year, or next year, that gap will have closed. Because key developers have had the development systems, they’ll have been working to create content for our platform from the beginning. That’s what is going to close that time gap.”
While Nintendo’s bread and butter have never been its third-party offerings, it would be nice to see more Switch third-party titles. The likes of Call of Duty, Tomb Raider and Assassin’s Creed skip out the hybrid machine every year. It would be great to see a wider variety of titles available on the platform. Hopefully Reggie is right and that more are on the way, with less time needed to develop than before.
