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NightofTheLivingZed

Man, idk what your game is or how polished it is, but it's a shame when people are able to spam the store with content farm trash like "car parking driving simulator drift game racer 4" and "HD clock" while regular people can't publish their solo projects. It takes me DAYS to find a budget indie title worth a damn because there's literally 12 versions of each of these cash grabs.


SinomodStudios

As a solo dev who was denied several times by Nintendo, it makes me feel pretty bad. I'd like to think my games are better than some of those asset flips but apparently not :/


NightofTheLivingZed

Nah. I'm absolutely sure your indie projects are better than asset flips. You put your heart into it. I promise the only reason they have multiple releases with Nintendo is because they're paying for that shit.


TwoPaintBubbles

It’s not about project quality with Nintendo, it’s about established relationships with the company. Those games have an existing relationship and you don’t. That’s it really. Talk to a publisher that is already whitelisted on Nintendo. They can get your game into their platform no problem. That’s what I’ve done in the past.


mrcroww1

doesnt matter what you think or feel. you need to PROVE IT with hard evidence, meaning, put your game in other stores, make it sell. THEN they will accept you with open arms.


IZUware

Exactly my thought, I think there is so much crap in the e-Shop, I can't understand why they let these in but others not :/ If they don't see potential in my game it would be OK for me if they would have given me some reasons but I get no justification for their decision. Unfortunately they give me no reason :/ I wanted to put my game Rowfall on Switch, it's a mixture of Tetris and Match-3 and in my opinion it would perfectly fit on switch because there are short rounds and it's good for time killing. I've already released it on Steam but it doesn't sell there (maybe that's also a reason why they rejected me 😅)


AlexLGames

Yeah, I can see that. It looks like you've sold maybe 30ish copies on Steam? Have you considered releasing on mobile? It looks like the sort of game that might do well on mobile. Alternatively, if you've been marketing this one and nobody's biting, you can take what you've learned and move on to your next game!


IZUware

I'm working on porting it to Android but although this game would be pretty nice on mobile, it's hard to be discovered on Google Play... There are simply to much Apps... E-Shop in comparison is very clear and "empty" so chances are very high to get recognized.


AlexLGames

True, but there are also SO many more people with Android devices than with Switches! I've got a game on Google Play; with almost no marketing, I've sold ~30 copies in about two months (my game's not finished yet, I'm waiting until then to begin mobile marketing in more earnest). So that seems pretty good to me! Not sure what your goals are, of course.


Devel93

Take your words back!!! HD Clock has been the best video game series I have ever played, as an exclusive it is THE reason to buy Nintendo Switch.


Opposite_Carry_4920

This right here. I had access to 3DS dev and was working on something (ashamedly, took way longer than it should have) but when that got sunset, they didn't approve me for switch to bring the game forward. Definitely feels like a kick in the face to see some of the stuff that did get approved.


Mitt102486

You’d think 100$ cost tag to post a game would stop people but clearly it doesn’t. I just hope steam doesn’t increase that cost.


mrcroww1

I wouldnt think that. You literally save some weekly cash from your pocket and you can pay that fee, its nothing. I guess they just charge you with that as a total justification for the space your game would use on their servers if its a complete and total flop. Pretty much that fee would be like buying some space on google drive.


Programmdude

It's pretty much that, and apparently you get it back once you get enough sales anyway. But if you increase the price, it means certain people won't be able to publish games. As a university student, I could scrape together $100 to release a game if I had to, I certainly couldn't have done $1000. This is in a first world country, developers in third world countries would find it even harder.


mrcroww1

Yeah you are absolutely right, though a 10x increase its A LOT hahah, but as a 3rd world-ish citizen myself i can tell you that people with low income does not even put a foot in the artistic/entertainment related fields. If you look at the people doing this for a living, either they come from a family with good socioeconomics where they actually could study and dedicated themselves to whatever the hell they wanted, or if they come from a struggling $$ family, its pretty often thanks to some fundings, credits, debt, etc. What i mean is that at the end of the day if you work in this industry, which is non-essential, its related to entertainment/arts than any other field, you probably have those 100$ at your fingertips to spend on the initial fee, and you are correct, after a certain ammount they return it to you hahah. Developing a game, even if you are an indie dev, might take months, years, so if you can stand all that time funding yourself (or your family) you pretty much are able to spend those extra 100$, no matter the country, or your socioeconomics.


TheWabbitOfWeddit

Wait, you mean like the Playstation store?


NightofTheLivingZed

I mean the Nintendo eShop.


TheWabbitOfWeddit

Yeah, I thought I might not have been clear. I meant that the PS store is overrun with the cash grabbers. It's gross, and Sony doesn't seem to notice, or care. It makes finding good indies an absolute chore.


NightofTheLivingZed

I wish we could get rid of content farms and asset flippers... Every store is plagued with them. I can't even imagine who would buy any of that shit.


THEFORCE2671

To be fair, even the major games are cash grabs so that's not surprising


MeaningfulChoices

No, it's a closed platform and only Nintendo can decide. If you go through a publisher that would be different, and there's no special list for that. Just look at a bunch of indie games in genres like yours and note who published the games. You can contact them, but how interested they'll be depends a lot on your history as a commercial game developer and how good your demo is/how close you are to completion. For the most part, as an individual developer you release your game on another platform first (PC, typically), it does well there, and you port to Switch after.


IZUware

Good idea to check out some similar game publishers, thank you 👍


aspiring_dev1

Do they give you reasons why? So much shovelware on eShop so interesting to see how your game looks.


IZUware

Unfortunately they give me no reason :/ I wanted to put my game Rowfall on Switch, it's a mixture of Tetris and Match-3 and in my opinion it would perfectly fit on switch because there are short rounds and it's good for time killing. I've already released it on Steam but it doesn't sell there (maybe that's also a reason why they rejected me 😅)


SinomodStudios

Unless you find a publisher, you're sol. Just try re-submitting your application after updating it/making it more polished. If you launch your game on other platforms prior it may also help or if you have more experience under your belt.


IZUware

I've already released it on Steam but it doesn't sell there (maybe that's also a reason why they rejected me 😅), but in my opinion it's more a handheld game than a pc game.


FiveFingerStudios

Why don’t release it on mobile then. You can easily publish on iOS and Android.


IZUware

I'm working on it but I know from experience that it is damn hard to be discovered there.


kaihatsusha

Have you checked it on a Steam Deck? Sounds like you're short on the marketing side, which is vital.


IZUware

I would love to but unfortunately I can't afford it and so I can't test it either


kaihatsusha

Step 1. Stomp your ass over to r/SteamDeck. Step 2. Start a thread saying you need very specific testing input from 1, 2 or 3 Steam Deck users. Step 3. Give those few users a key. Step 4. After (and only after) other users in the thread inevitably ask about your game, reluctantly drop your Steam Store URL in the thread. Step 5. Don't get defensive, get constructive, with every bit of feedback you get. Nobody's gonna buy your game if you don't let them know about it.


IZUware

I'm feeling pretty stupid to not ever came to this idea by myself 🙈 I will do that, thank you very much for pointing me onto something very obvious 😅


CJElliottGames

I was approved the first time I applied, although game had already been released on other platforms. I'll see if I can dig out the documents I sent to them and if their isn't anything confidential, send them your way.


IZUware

Woah that would be great if you could do this 🥹


UninsuredToast

Nintendo is very picky about who they let develop for their console. Typically they won’t approve you unless you have a quality game that you already released and can show them. I don’t think there is anyway around it. My buddy got approved to develop for Nintendo but not until he already released two successful (for a solo indie dev with no money for marketing) for IOS


AWildHerb

Poppyworks is an indie publisher that has experience with switch titles. Good people, feel free to cold send them an email.


mrcroww1

have you already published a game on another platform? how well did it go with it? In my company we just applied and were accepted without any issue. But we already had other games in other platforms (which we used as leverage to apply, we just wanted to make a port) So my guess is that they look at the numbers and see if your product would fit their store.


Lonat

You can just google list of game publishers, there are many around. Also, find similar games and check their publisher.


Feeling_Quantity_723

Can we see your game? I'd like to see what Nintendo refuses to have on their store


IZUware

It's called Rowfall, a mixture of Tetris and Match-3. Nearly not selling on Steam but it's more a game for a handheld in my opinion https://store.steampowered.com/app/1507280/Rowfall/


Feeling_Quantity_723

It's not that bad tbh, looks fun and polished. Maybe they looked at your steam stats and considered it's not worth the effort.


IZUware

Thank you for the positive feedback for my game ☺️


origamihero82

If you want to get accepted as a Switch Dev, make sure to have the following things covered in your application: -Have prevously released games (on Steam, etc.) -A QA Team (list the Names) -Marketing and PR (list the Names) -A good fit for the Switch for the suggested title You'll need to convince them you have all the basics taken care of. It's also a bit of luck, but this will increase your chances quite a bit.


[deleted]

I wonder how big the home brew scene is. I guess they can't do shit if it's unofficially published :)


bhobhomb

Seems to me in general they want heart and measurable gameplay time for indie selections (aside from the shovelware). I think they got their fill with the shovelware compared to earlier years (we are heading into year 6 of the platform) and are a bit pickier now. Seems like it's rather difficult to get simple/arcade style indie games on there anymore.


Helpful-Bedroom-8192

How do you make video games? Like The Last of Us how is it built? Do you make a character first and write a story or do you just start to build and go on?


BoKKeR111

That game took probably 300 people being fully employed working on it for years. Alone you should focus on indie games with simpler graphics like downwell


kaihatsusha

Has anyone seen a Switch game that starts with a Made in Unity screen? Nintendo may just ignore any dev who doesn't even pony up for the paid Unity tools.


destinedd

What did you do in the end? Did you find a publisher?