How are Indie games actually performing on Switch? Sales reports so far

MYeager · Aug 30, 2018

La Leganto said:
For me is the contrary. I know from who I will not buy a game, ever.

Many people do not buy games for a lot of random reasons. A developer who only complains will never get my sympathy (and Jools, where is Treasurenauts?)

Good thing then that CSH's developer doesn't only complain, the dev has always been great with engaging the audience of their games as well as taking feedback in stride. The comments made were obviously meant as a casual discussion about their personal frustrations and not meant to be a PR statement or interview about their grievances and it sucks that only specific quotes were used without context of the overall conversation to represent it as overtly negative about a specific platform.

If developers, especially indie ones, don't feel free to be able to discuss their concerns or issues without it seeming like it's an attack on a platform then it makes it more difficult for that platform to get feedback to make improvements which benefit everyone. Hell back in the Xbox Live Indie Games days they had a public board for developers who were pretty frank about submission issues or technical problems and those were welcomed.

IsaacC · Aug 30, 2018

Bonejack said:
What's neat is that "simply" being part of this collaboration also nets you a tweet by the various Nintendo branches. At least they had this for some recent new t-shirts. ^^

That is a lovely perk indeed! heck almost every announced collaboration t-shirt so far gets a few dozen news outlets reporting and tweeting about it also. Like a whole trickledown effect. That is why they are announcing them ( so far) one at a time. Gives a good degree of undivided attention. it doesn't hurt that very little info is releasing about Travis Strikes Again, so for those who have the game on their radar.....well they instantly click a news article that mentions it...even if that news is just a t-shirt.

But for fans of indie games, having the ability to have their favorite games in t-shirt form on their protagonist is a rad little bonus. Give me a friggin Gungeon shirt for Travis...just a big ugly yellow shirt with two eyes and a little smile and I will be thrilled AF.

DarthWalden · Aug 30, 2018

Given Nintendo's weak first party output since Odyssey launched and into the foreseeable future the Switch has become my indie device.

I find personally I'm willing to spend more time with a game I get on switch due to its play anywhere status so I buy most of my indie games there.

Of course if I had aweome first party games to play on this thing I would probably play less indie games so I do buy into the "competition" aspect of it.

Deleted member 5167 · Aug 30, 2018

wrong thread

Bonejack · Aug 30, 2018

IsaacC said:
That is a lovely perk indeed! heck almost every announced collaboration t-shirt so far gets a few dozen news outlets reporting and tweeting about it also. Like a whole trickledown effect. That is why they are announcing them ( so far) one at a time. Gives a good degree of undivided attention. it doesn't hurt that very little info is releasing about Travis Strikes Again, so for those who have the game on their radar.....well they instantly click a news article that mentions it...even if that news is just a t-shirt.

But for fans of indie games, having the ability to have their favorite games in t-shirt form on their protagonist is a rad little bonus. Give me a friggin Gungeon shirt for Travis...just a big ugly yellow shirt with two eyes and a little smile and I will be thrilled AF.

That's a snowball system i can get behind. ^^

And it doesn't even have to end with the release of Travis Strickes Again, as additional free t-shirts with updates both keep the game in minds and can be used to promote future indie games.

Anyway, thanks for the insights dude, and good luck with both releases! ^^

Deleted member 26535 · Aug 30, 2018

MYeager said:
Good thing then that CSH's developer doesn't only complain

I know. But complaints were the only things that I saw, since the NeoGaf times, from this developer.

Bad news travel faster than good news.

Dekuman · Aug 30, 2018

After octopath ill pick up CSH.

KoopaSwitch · Aug 30, 2018

MYeager said:
Good thing then that CSH's developer doesn't only complain, the dev has always been great with engaging the audience of their games as well as taking feedback in stride. The comments made were obviously meant as a casual discussion about their personal frustrations and not meant to be a PR statement or interview about their grievances and it sucks that only specific quotes were used without context of the overall conversation to represent it as overtly negative about a specific platform.

If developers, especially indie ones, don't feel free to be able to discuss their concerns or issues without it seeming like it's an attack on a platform then it makes it more difficult for that platform to get feedback to make improvements which benefit everyone. Hell back in the Xbox Live Indie Games days they had a public board for developers who were pretty frank about submission issues or technical problems and those were welcomed.

I'm with the other member. Nintendo simply cannot promote 20+ games on a weekly basis - especially one that is not exclusive to their console and has been released before. Just seems like sour grapes because people are just not interested in buying it. Looks like a generic $5 iOS game to me. I'm betting he's hoping to see a boost in game sales from people feeling sorry for him. Pass.

CaviarMeths · Aug 30, 2018

KoopaSwitch said:
I'm with the other member. Nintendo simply cannot promote 20+ games on a weekly basis - especially one that is not exclusive to their console and has been released before. Just seems like sour grapes because people are just not interested in buying it. Looks like a generic $5 iOS game to me. I'm betting he's hoping to see a boost in game sales from people feeling sorry for him. Pass.

Guy who complains about indies existing because they're not "big boy games" (real quote) says this particular indie game looks like $5 iOS game.

Shocking revelation.

While on the subject, here is a $5 iOS game that is excellent and you should totally get it. It's on Android too.

Lelouch0612 · Aug 30, 2018

KoopaSwitch said:
I'm with the other member. Nintendo simply cannot promote 20+ games on a weekly basis - especially one that is not exclusive to their console and has been released before. Just seems like sour grapes because people are just not interested in buying it. Looks like a generic $5 iOS game to me. I'm betting he's hoping to see a boost in game sales from people feeling sorry for him. Pass.

Show a little bit of respect. You are talking about the hard work of actual people here.

PocketMonsterFan32 · Aug 30, 2018

KoopaSwitch said:
I'm with the other member. Nintendo simply cannot promote 20+ games on a weekly basis - especially one that is not exclusive to their console and has been released before. Just seems like sour grapes because people are just not interested in buying it. Looks like a generic $5 iOS game to me. I'm betting he's hoping to see a boost in game sales from people feeling sorry for him. Pass.

If you don't like a game, don't buy it. You can criticize it, you can say it looks, feels, or plays bad. But you right here are not just outright insulting the game, but your insulting and accusing the developer of being exploitative. Not cool.

Deleted member 26535 · Aug 30, 2018

Lelouch0612 said:
Show a little bit of respect. You are talking about the hard work of actual people here.

We are customers. It is a silly thing to say this only because the dev posts here. I saw a lot of people defending his game but they themselves did not play.

Of course it is hard to make a game, but only this should not guarantee respect.

Well, I had cancer before my 30s, but I do not see people respecting me because of this (and a lot of cancer survivors do not like this forced sympathy as well). In the last hours I saw people mocking my opinions...

Games are futile commercial products. They need to sell, to convince people. Bad mouthing a bad looking game is not lack of respect.

ccc said:
but your insulting and accusing the developer of being exploitative. Not cool.

But who knows the dev's intention?
Some months ago I was arguing in good faith and was warned for bad faith. And well, why did you not defended me like you are doing right now? -_-

We simply can not know what the real intentions were. I do not believe that he did this to gain more exposure, but we really can not know.

Herb Alpert · Aug 30, 2018

KoopaSwitch said:
I'm with the other member. Nintendo simply cannot promote 20+ games on a weekly basis - especially one that is not exclusive to their console and has been released before. Just seems like sour grapes because people are just not interested in buying it. Looks like a generic $5 iOS game to me. I'm betting he's hoping to see a boost in game sales from people feeling sorry for him. Pass.

Are you for real ? This post is dumb and condescending as hell.

KoopaSwitch · Aug 30, 2018

CaviarMeths said:
Guy who complains about indies existing because they're not "big boy games" (real quote) says this particular indie game looks like $5 iOS game.

Shocking revelation.

While on the subject, here is a $5 iOS game that is excellent and you should totally get it. It's on Android too.

But you are Ok with the dev complaining that Nintendo didn't advertise his game? Why should they? Nintendo simply cannot do that - and neither does Microsoft or Sony.

But the Dev posts here (and deleted ALL his posts in this thread - why is that even allowed?), so many of you want to join on the Nintendo hate bandwagon.

Deleted member 26535 · Aug 30, 2018

Herb Alpert said:
Are you for real ? This post is dumb and condescending as hell.

So report him. No need for posts like yours here. Or are you saiyng that your opinion matters more than his opinion?

People need to report or ignore, not trying to have the last word in conversations.

CaviarMeths · Aug 30, 2018

La Leganto said:
Well, I had cancer before my 30s, but I do not see people respecting me because of this (and a lot of cancer survivors do not like this forced sympathy as well). In the last hours I saw people mocking my opinions...

Edit:

La Leganto said:
Some months ago I was arguing in good faith and was warned for bad faith. And well, why did you not defended me like you are doing right now? -_-

KoopaSwitch · Aug 30, 2018

Lelouch0612 said:
Show a little bit of respect. You are talking about the hard work of actual people here.

Which doesn't seem to matter when people bash other games like SWBF2 and many, many others. What about their hard work?

KalBalboa · Aug 30, 2018

Indie seems to thrive on platforms in their first year or so. PS4, Vita, even 360.

It makes complete sense; both the platform and the dev community benefit from the situation.

Aniki · Aug 30, 2018

KoopaSwitch said:
I'm with the other member. Nintendo simply cannot promote 20+ games on a weekly basis - especially one that is not exclusive to their console and has been released before. Just seems like sour grapes because people are just not interested in buying it. Looks like a generic $5 iOS game to me. I'm betting he's hoping to see a boost in game sales from people feeling sorry for him. Pass.

Yikes. You could at least be a lttle bit understanding of his situation.

Herb Alpert · Aug 30, 2018

La Leganto said:
So report him. No need for posts like yours here. Or are you saiyng that your opinion matters more than his opinion?

People need to report or ignore, not trying to have the last word in conversations.

Thank you for teaching me things
I'll just ignore him and you too

PocketMonsterFan32 · Aug 30, 2018

La Leganto said:
Of course it is hard to make a game, but only this should not guarantee respect.

People deserve a minimal amount of respect so long as they haven't given you reason to disrespect them. We live in a society.

La Leganto said:
They need to sell, to convince people. Bad mouthing a bad looking game is not lack of respect.

I don't believe he was referring to the bad mouthing of the game, but instead to the badmouthing of a person and his intentions.

EDIT didn't realize I was talking to 2 different people

Lelouch0612 · Aug 30, 2018

La Leganto said:
We are customers. It is a silly thing to say this only because the dev posts here. I saw a lot of people defending his game but they themselves did not play.

Of course it is hard to make a game, but only this should not guarantee respect.

Well, I had cancer before my 30s, but I do not see people respecting me because of this (and a lot of cancer survivors do not like this forced sympathy as well). In the last hours I saw people mocking my opinions...

Games are futile commercial products. They need to sell, to convince people. Bad mouthing a bad looking game is not lack of respect.

First of all, he didn't only criticized the game but claimed that the dev came here with the intention of making us pity him and therefore increase the sales of its game. That is disrespectful.

Moreover and I am sorry but I also don't agree with your central point. We are consummers yes, but we should forget that thre are actual people behind indies games, small teams that often struggle to deliver their game to the public and face a ruethless competition. We can criticize their work, of course, but it is a little easy to be harsh on a message board.

You saw by yourself how people's lack of repect is bothering you since you mentionned it. People cannot agree on everything but the moment you lose respect, of a person, of its work or its ideas, then discussion is over.

KoopaSwitch · Aug 30, 2018

Aniki said:
Yikes. You could at least be a lttle bit understanding of his situation.

I read it. He complained early on about a dev kit and when Nintendo finally releases his year old game already on other platforms he complains sales were not what he hoped for and blamed Nintendo for not advertising it. It doesn't matter how good/bad it is, Nintendo cannot promote 20+ games weekly. Neither does MS/Sony.

This isn't Stardew Valley or Hollow Knight.

KoopaSwitch · Aug 30, 2018

Lelouch0612 said:
First of all, he didn't only criticized the game but claimed that the dev came here with the intention of making us pity him and therefore increase the sales of its game. That is disrespectful.

I read about it elsewhere. I noticed he posted here (in this thread) but deleted all his comments. So I can't even comment on that since he decided to delete everything.

Lelouch0612 · Aug 30, 2018

KoopaSwitch said:
Which doesn't seem to matter when people bash other games like SWBF2 and many, many others. What about their hard work?

You attacked the person in addition to the game.

People attacked EA for SWBF2 and rightfully so with actual elements to back their claim. They didn't attack the devs, game is gorgeous.

PocketMonsterFan32 · Aug 30, 2018

KoopaSwitch said:
But you are Ok with the dev complaining that Nintendo didn't advertise his game? Why should they? Nintendo simply cannot do that - and neither does Microsoft or Sony.

But the Dev posts here (and deleted ALL his posts in this thread - why is that even allowed?), so many of you want to join on the Nintendo hate bandwagon.

The dev was stating his frustration - though I'll accept saying it might have been unwarranted. As for him deleting ALL his posts in this thread, that's due to Nintendo news sites picking it up as though he was making an official statement about Nintendo, and cherrypicking to find the worst parts in his statements. Surely you can understand not wanting to get on the bad side of the biggest dedicated video game corporation there is when you're trying to publish on their platform.

Deleted member 26535 · Aug 30, 2018

Lelouch0612 said:
We are consummers yes, but we should forget that thre are actual people behind indies games, small teams that often struggle to deliver their game to the public and face a ruethless competition. We can criticize their work, of course, but it is a little easy to be harsh on a message board.

I do not agree with you but I respect this great post.

But that is not how the life works. To make and to sell games are not easy, but no one is forcing him to make games. Sometimes we need to change what we do, to make things that we do not like with a passion.

People were harsh against me in various posts because my opinions were diametral opposite than theirs, but few defended me. Only because he is a developer he do not deserve 'special treatment'.

Or we all act better or stop to only protect some.

MYeager · Aug 30, 2018

KoopaSwitch said:
I'm with the other member. Nintendo simply cannot promote 20+ games on a weekly basis - especially one that is not exclusive to their console and has been released before. Just seems like sour grapes because people are just not interested in buying it. Looks like a generic $5 iOS game to me. I'm betting he's hoping to see a boost in game sales from people feeling sorry for him. Pass.

Wow that has nothing to do with anything I said. I never said anything about Nintendo being able to promote 20 games a week or anything other than the developer absolutely doesn't only complain and that I felt the article misrepresents the context of the quotes used.

La Leganto said:
I know. But complaints were the only things that I saw, since the NeoGaf times, from this developer.

Bad news travel faster than good news.

That's some selective reading you got there then.

KoopaSwitch · Aug 30, 2018

Lelouch0612 said:
You attacked the person in addition to the game.

People attacked EA for SWBF2 and rightfully so with actual elements to back their claim. They didn't attack the devs, game is gorgeous.

I'm not even going to bother anymore.

Deleted member 26535 · Aug 30, 2018

MYeager said:
That's some selective reading you got there then.

Or because that is just the posts that I saw, since that I do not follow this dev or because I seldom read non Nintendo threads.

Well, this user just attacked my intentions even not knowing what they were. I will wait people here to defend me too. =o

Lelouch0612 · Aug 30, 2018

KoopaSwitch said:
I'm not even going to bother anymore.

You could admit that you were being too harsh and like you said lacked the insight (since you could't read the initial comments) to make your post ?

It is okay, sometimes we post something that we don't totally mean.

Btw, of course that Nintendo can't push every indies and it is not difficult to see that they are pushing high-profile indies or indies that releases with a Switch exclusivity (timed, new modes...) and CSH didn't fit both categories.

VyechnayaSlava · Aug 30, 2018

It's a shame that CSH struggled out of the gate, but I think that timing has a lot to do with that. Octopath Traveler sucked in that audience that normally would have been all over it. I plan on getting into it eventually myself, but I need a bit of breathing room after 80 hours of Octopath.

Metallix87 · Aug 30, 2018

VyechnayaSlava said:
It's a shame that CSH struggled out of the gate, but I think that timing has a lot to do with that. Octopath Traveler sucked in that audience that normally would have been all over it. I plan on getting into it eventually myself, but I need a bit of breathing room after 80 hours of Octopath.

I think also announcing the physical release at the same time is a factor that can not be ignored.

Bunkles · Aug 30, 2018

VyechnayaSlava said:
It's a shame that CSH struggled out of the gate, but I think that timing has a lot to do with that. Octopath Traveler sucked in that audience that normally would have been all over it. I plan on getting into it eventually myself, but I need a bit of breathing room after 80 hours of Octopath.

Yeah Octopath sucked a lot of the "man I'd love to play a SNES style RPG" out of the air and I don't really feel like diving back into that style of game right now. I bet the game would have done a lot better had it come out earlier in the year.

Calamari41 · Aug 30, 2018

ccc said:
as though he was making an official statement about Nintendo

That's the thing, his posts in this thread were public statements about Nintendo. The only way to make it more official would be to publish it on corporate letterhead. They might have been cherry picked by the media, but they were stated by someone who decided to not be anonymous.

ccc said:
Surely you can understand not wanting to get on the bad side of the biggest dedicated video game corporation there is when you're trying to publish on their platform.

Which is why people are kind of trying to tell him to stop what he's been doing from the beginning.

Deleted member 5167 · Aug 30, 2018

KoopaSwitch said:
But the Dev posts here (and deleted ALL his posts in this thread - why is that even allowed?)

its probably completely unrelated to his first hand experiences and thoughts thereon being signal boosted out of context by fansites for clicks and then getting shit from people like you yourself in this topic

VyechnayaSlava · Aug 30, 2018

Metallix87 said:
I think also announcing the physical release at the same time is a factor that can not be ignored.

That as well. Though I go all digital all the time, waiting on a physical release is a big thing for a lot of the audience that would be otherwise interested

Metallix87 · Aug 30, 2018

VyechnayaSlava said:
That as well. Though I go all digital all the time, waiting on a physical release is a big thing for a lot of the audience that would be otherwise interested

Indeed. It's literally what I'm waiting on to buy the game for my Switch.

Poised Turtoise · Aug 30, 2018

Kinda feel like they would not be doing as well if there was a thriving virtual console on switch, happy indies are getting a place to shine

VyechnayaSlava · Aug 30, 2018

Interfectum said:
Yeah Octopath sucked a lot of the "man I'd love to play a SNES style RPG" out of the air and I don't really feel like diving back into that style of game right now. I bet the game would have done a lot better had it come out earlier in the year.

Or later in the year. As I'm digging into RDR2 later this year I might need the occasional JRPG reprieve.

Lelouch0612 · Aug 30, 2018

La Leganto said:
I do not agree with you but I respect this great post.

But that is not how the life works. To make and to sell games are not easy, but no one is forcing him to make games. Sometimes we need to change what we do, to make things that we do not like with a passion.

People were harsh against me in various posts because my opinions were diametral opposite than theirs, but few defended me. Only because he is a developer he do not deserve 'special treatment'.

Or we all act better or stop to only protect some.

I am trying to find a parallel situation that would happen here...

Let's just say that you are making a great OP about a subject that you like. You dedicated time and reflexion to it. If someone is coming to thread whine or comes to bash your thread, then yeah I will "protect" you. It is normal, people should respect the time you put into even if they disagree. If they do they can explain why in a respectful post. That's the way a constructive discussion can be engaged.

Low-effort posts are, however, not worthy of discussion or "protection".

La Leganto said:
Or because that is just the posts that I saw, since that I do not follow this dev or because I seldom read non Nintendo threads.

Well, this user just attacked my intentions even not knowing what they were. I will wait people here to defend me too. =o

For example here, you didn't make the effort to confront your claim with reality. You decided to go against someone without double checking if your intuition was correct. That's low effort imo.

Aniki · Aug 30, 2018

KoopaSwitch said:
I read it. He complained early on about a dev kit and when Nintendo finally releases his year old game already on other platforms he complains sales were not what he hoped for and blamed Nintendo for not advertising it. It doesn't matter how good/bad it is, Nintendo cannot promote 20+ games weekly. Neither does MS/Sony.

This isn't Stardew Valley or Hollow Knight.

Yeah, he was disappointed because he thought the Switch release would give his game's sales a much needed boost. That didn't happen and that's why he was frustrated. But i don't think he layed the blame solely on Nintendo. I think he was pretty respectful in his comments, as far as i remember them.

I think there are no bad guys in this story, no one that needs to be attacked or disrespected. Your comments just lacked empathy, especially your last sentence where you insinuated that he would hope to profit from the people feeling sorry for him.

Deleted member 26535 · Aug 30, 2018

Dr Wily said:
its probably completely unrelated to his first hand experiences and thoughts thereon being signal boosted out of context by fansites for clicks and then getting shit from people like you yourself in this topic

But.. this is the same thing than only posting the scores from these same sites without posting the whole review, no?

Metallix87 · Aug 30, 2018

Poised Turtoise said:
Kinda feel like they would not be doing as well if there was a thriving virtual console on switch, happy indies are getting a place to shine

Agreed. I think the lack of a Virtual Console, which was so prominent on Wii and Wii U, has allowed a greater number of indies to find success on Switch than might otherwise be the case.

VyechnayaSlava · Aug 30, 2018

Poised Turtoise said:
Kinda feel like they would not be doing as well if there was a thriving virtual console on switch, happy indies are getting a place to shine

Nah, Switch owners just like to buy software. In other gens with Virtual Console I still did not purchase anywhere close to as many games as I have on my Switch. Even my PS4 and XB1 are nowhere close in purchases. I, and most of the Switch owners that I know, just love to play on the Switch and will jump at experiences there

mutantmagnet · Aug 30, 2018

VyechnayaSlava said:
Or later in the year. As I'm digging into RDR2 later this year I might need the occasional JRPG reprieve.

Dude we all know The World Ends With You will crush any upcoming indie rpg in that window.

Dekuman · Aug 30, 2018

Metallix87 said:
Agreed. I think the lack of a Virtual Console, which was so prominent on Wii and Wii U, has allowed a greater number of indies to find success on Switch than might otherwise be the case.

Do you have any rationale for this?

VC already exist in the form of the Neo Geo release, and retro compilations releases and even Nintendo has the vs. Arcade line. They have all done well.

The fact of the matter is VC as ot is now will be 90% Nintendo games as third parties have clearly opted to do their own releases. This explaims why Reggie mentioned VC morphed into the free games from their online service.

Deleted member 5167 · Aug 30, 2018

La Leganto said:
But.. this is the same thing than only posting the scores from these same sites without posting the whole review, no?

Thats also stupid and why I don't visit review aggregate topics, but they're not the same thing.
A developer was giving his firsthand business experience. How he makes his living. He has a different perspective from people who just want content to consume.

It should of course go without saying that if you want developer support for your preferred platform, not treating the people who create that content like cunts will help ensure that.

Calamari41 · Aug 30, 2018

Dekuman said:
Do you have any rationale for this?

VC already exist in the form of the Neo Geo release, and retro compilations releases and even Nintendo has the vs. Arcade line. They have all done well.

The fact of the matter is VC as ot is now will be 90% Nintendo games as third parties have clearly opted to do their own releases. This explaims why Reggie mentioned VC morphed into the free games from their online service.

The rationale for this, from my perspective at least, is simple. A game like Golf Story for example would probably not have rocketed out of the gate if Earthbound, Super Metroid, or Link to the Past, etc had released the week before, the week of, and the week after its launch.

I don't think it is as big of a factor as others, but I believe that the big name releases like the examples I gave above would definitely at the very least suck a chunk of the air out of the room on the week they're released.

Poised Turtoise · Aug 30, 2018

VyechnayaSlava said:
Nah, Switch owners just like to buy software. In other gens with Virtual Console I still did not purchase anywhere close to as many games as I have on my Switch. Even my PS4 and XB1 are nowhere close in purchases. I, and most of the Switch owners that I know, just love to play on the Switch and will jump at experiences there

Hmm, well, I guess my line of thinking is that a lot a lot of these indies are heavily influenced by classic Nintendo games, and if you look at the few classic Nintendo games they do release those float pretty high up there on the digital sales. With a virtual console, I think people would be less inclined to giving these indies a shot due to their love for the classics and the marketability of anything Nintendo along with them filling a pretty similar space in gaming. I personally just couldn't have seen axiom verge doing as well with a super metroid on console, the lack of an advanced wars game will surely help out War Groove, etc....

Sure, Switch owners buy more in general, I am one of them, but I don't think that really disproves my thought at all. Not like switch owners are an infinite piggy bank a virtual console could definitely detract imo

How are Indie games actually performing on Switch? Sales reports so far

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