Nintendo Switch Third-Party Support Might Be More Successful Than Wii U's Thanks To Better Compatibility

One of Nintendo’s biggest problems with the Wii U was the shortage of third-party AAA titles. With the Nintendo Switch, the company is making sure that this won’t happen again.

Nintendo’s managing executive, Shinya Takahashi, recently talked to investors about the Switch console and assured them that the upcoming console will be more successful with third-party support. The executive explained that the Switch’s compatibility with Unity and Unreal, the two most commonly used game engines today, will be the reason why the Nintendo Switch will succeed.

“Since the start of Nintendo Switch development we have been aiming to realize an environment in which a variety of different third-party developers are able to easily develop compatible software, such as by making it compatible with Unreal and Unity as well as our own development tools,” Takahashi said, as quoted by Polygon.

With the Wii U and all of Nintendo’s previous consoles, the company preferred its own internal tools for building games. This is why a lot of third-party developers weren’t enthusiastic about making games for Nintendo. For the Nintendo Switch, the company seems to be more open about sharing its knowledge with its partners.

Takahashi also explained that the demonstration of “1-2-Switch” during Nintendo’s Jan. 13 event was intended for developers. This was one way of encouraging third-party developers to create their own creative game that can take full advatge of the Switch. “Nintendo will keep on creating unique software. By doing so, I believe we will encourage third-party developers to create a number of quality software title for Nintendo Switch,” Takahashi said.

Nintendo game producer Shigeru Miyamoto also joined the conversation and added that third-party developers on PC will be able to easily port their games for the Nintendo Switch. “In the current development environment, I’d say that it would take less than a year for them to port a PC game to Nintendo Switch,” Miyamoto said.

Miyamoto also acknowledged that game developers in the West are seen as superior in terms of game development techniques. However, he believes that perception will change as Nintendo’s developers have mastered new technologies like Unreal Engine.

The Nintendo Switch will launch on March 3 and starts at $299 for a standalone system. The console will have at least 10 games available on day one including “The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild,” “1-2-Switch,” “Just Dance 2017,” “Skylanders: Imaginators” and “I Am Setsuna.”