LakeOf9
Member
With Nintendo finally getting to PS4 levels of hardware power with the Switch 2 after more than a decade of staying on the ~PS3 level (between the Wii U and Switch), there was an expectation that they would see their output level slow down. In fact, even Nintendo's president Furukawa mentioned to investors in a statement that he expects game development to take longer going forward.
Now for Nintendo, a situation like this could potentially present problems. Their entire business model relies on people buying their consoles primarily driven by their first party titles. On the Switch, after almost two decades of struggling with droughts, Nintendo finally achieved the incredible cadence of releasing one new game a month. However, on the Switch, the expectation was that the lower tech and resource investment necessary to make games, as well as the fact that Nintendo had several readymade games just waiting to be deployed in the guise of Wii U ports, was why they were able to hit that level.
On the Switch 2, the expectation was that they would have neither of those two advantages, so their release pace would slow down. And, in fact, given that Nintendo has specifically been avoiding doing major Nintendo Directs in the Switch 2 era, and when they do them, the amount of first party reveals is lower, further led people to assume that this was happening.
But when you look at Nintendo's actual release schedule, that doesn't appear to be the case? They are still hitting one game a month even on the Switch 2, without accounting for re-releases like the Switch 2 Editions:
June: Mario Kart World, Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour
July: Donkey Kong Bananza
August: Drag X Drive
October: Super Mario Galaxy 1+2, Pokemon Legends ZA
November: Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment, Kirby Air Riders
December: Metroid Prime 4 Beyond
January: n/a
February: Mario Tennis Fever
March: Pokemon Pokopia
April: Pokemon Champions, Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream
May: Yoshi and the Mysterious Book
June: Star Fox
July: Rhythm Heaven Groove, Splatoon Raiders
August: n/a
September: Fire Emblem Fortune's Weave
October: Nintendo Switch Sports Resort
Plus The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time is undated (presumably November).
This isn't counting the Nintendo Switch 2 Edition updates and re-releases (of which there have been 9 from Nintendo so far, plus a further 3 announced), or straight re-releases such as Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen. It is also not counting their mobile only games, which there have been a handful of in this period too. This is only counting Switch and Switch 2 games where there is actual active development necessary.
But that's an outrageous pace? We are looking at 19 releases in 17 months (so more than one release a month), and while some of them are surely very low budget, low scoped, or bad (or some combination of the three – hello Drag X Drive, Welcome Tour, Mario Tennis), the bulk of these are good (at least) games with a lot of content, across different genres and price points?
Even accounting for them being on PS4 level hardware while the rest of the industry is on PS5 level, it's astounding. As an example, on the PS4, during the era where Sony's first party strategy was at its best, Sony averaged 6-7 first party releases a year; this was the maximum any publisher generally achieved, and more commonly, it was 1-2 games a year. Nintendo is ahead even of the PS4 benchmarks.
Is this expected to continue? Do you think Nintendo can maintain the "one game a month on average" release policy in the Switch 2 era?
Now for Nintendo, a situation like this could potentially present problems. Their entire business model relies on people buying their consoles primarily driven by their first party titles. On the Switch, after almost two decades of struggling with droughts, Nintendo finally achieved the incredible cadence of releasing one new game a month. However, on the Switch, the expectation was that the lower tech and resource investment necessary to make games, as well as the fact that Nintendo had several readymade games just waiting to be deployed in the guise of Wii U ports, was why they were able to hit that level.
On the Switch 2, the expectation was that they would have neither of those two advantages, so their release pace would slow down. And, in fact, given that Nintendo has specifically been avoiding doing major Nintendo Directs in the Switch 2 era, and when they do them, the amount of first party reveals is lower, further led people to assume that this was happening.
But when you look at Nintendo's actual release schedule, that doesn't appear to be the case? They are still hitting one game a month even on the Switch 2, without accounting for re-releases like the Switch 2 Editions:
June: Mario Kart World, Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour
July: Donkey Kong Bananza
August: Drag X Drive
October: Super Mario Galaxy 1+2, Pokemon Legends ZA
November: Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment, Kirby Air Riders
December: Metroid Prime 4 Beyond
January: n/a
February: Mario Tennis Fever
March: Pokemon Pokopia
April: Pokemon Champions, Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream
May: Yoshi and the Mysterious Book
June: Star Fox
July: Rhythm Heaven Groove, Splatoon Raiders
August: n/a
September: Fire Emblem Fortune's Weave
October: Nintendo Switch Sports Resort
Plus The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time is undated (presumably November).
This isn't counting the Nintendo Switch 2 Edition updates and re-releases (of which there have been 9 from Nintendo so far, plus a further 3 announced), or straight re-releases such as Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen. It is also not counting their mobile only games, which there have been a handful of in this period too. This is only counting Switch and Switch 2 games where there is actual active development necessary.
But that's an outrageous pace? We are looking at 19 releases in 17 months (so more than one release a month), and while some of them are surely very low budget, low scoped, or bad (or some combination of the three – hello Drag X Drive, Welcome Tour, Mario Tennis), the bulk of these are good (at least) games with a lot of content, across different genres and price points?
Even accounting for them being on PS4 level hardware while the rest of the industry is on PS5 level, it's astounding. As an example, on the PS4, during the era where Sony's first party strategy was at its best, Sony averaged 6-7 first party releases a year; this was the maximum any publisher generally achieved, and more commonly, it was 1-2 games a year. Nintendo is ahead even of the PS4 benchmarks.
Is this expected to continue? Do you think Nintendo can maintain the "one game a month on average" release policy in the Switch 2 era?
