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[overlordror]

So I recently sat down with Andrew Aversa to discuss Tangledeep and its success on the Nintendo Switch. The game launched on Switch just under a month ago yet it has already sold 23% of PC's lifetime sales (nearly a year). Seems like Switch really is the platform for indie games these days.

What do you guys think?

[velocirection]

Can I put my sexy animal people games on it though

[J. R. Hill]

I think it's as good a place as any. It's definitely an attractive market for game publishing, but also depends a little on the game, genre, and its intended audience.

Can I put my sexy animal people games on it though

I wasn't even aware you could put them on Twitter

[velocirection]

Can I put my sexy animal people games on it though

I wasn't even aware you could put them on Twitter

  Yeah man you can put them on itch as well!

Well at least until that FOSTA/SESTA thing starts really being enforced, then pretty much nowhere can you put anything even remotely sexual(well on websites based in the US) but that's a discussion for another time.

[Richard Kain]

It's not necessarily the best fit for every game. At the same time, it is rapidly eclipsing the Vita as the new target console platform for smaller, digital-focused titles.

It's not difficult to see why. The Switch is a portable, on-the-go system. It lets people take their games with them, and play them when they're out-and-about. This makes it an excellent fit for shorter play sessions. It also makes pausing or stopping your game very easy, a must-have feature for this style of device. This approach to portable gaming lends itself well to many indie games.

Then there's the mobile hardware target of the Switch, and how that plays into expectations. The audience for most indie games have gotten used to the idea of indie games having less detailed graphics than big-budget titles. This tendency for indie titles to be more modest in terms of graphics works well with the Switch, where expectations are also lower thanks to its mobile nature. It's not just the matter that the Switch has lower power than its competitors. It's the fact that no one expects it to have the same level of power, and are more accepting of lower-detail games on it as a result.

Finally, there's the choice on Nintendo's part to go with micro-SD cards for the Switch's expandable memory. This was a great choice, and is one of the primary reasons why the Switch's digital offerings have started off so strong. The Vita was a popular platform for indie games, but it was always hampered by its proprietary memory format. A digital-focused platform needs affordable memory in order to thrive. When the Switch launched, 64 Gig micro-SD cards were very reasonably priced, and 128 Gig cards were even within affordable limits. Now, only two years later, 256 Gig cards cost around the same that 128 Gig cards cost at launch. The price for micro-SD cards has continuously dropped. Anyone looking to buy their Switch games digitally can get the needed storage for a song. Indie digital games on the Switch don't have to worry about their customers running out of space.

[overlordror]

Richard I agree with most of what you said, but there is a negative point of view. Most game launches have what the community has dubbed a Switch tax in which the game launches at a $5 to $10 premium for the platform. Most justify this for physical releases, but it's a very real phenomenon for digital games, too.

Games that include all the DLC of the original and ask for more are not the problem, but rather games with no additional content charging more for the platform simply because they can. I would love to hear the justification for this. Does Nintendo take a higher percentage of the eShop cut compared to Valve that makes the Switch tax necessary?