Nintendo knows the Switch needs more team-ups like Fortnite
LOS ANGELES: It’s been a good year for Nintendo. After spending nearly a decade in the wilderness, Nintendo’s found itself on the successful end of a turnaround. Its Switch, an experimental portable home console, has outperformed expectations since its March 2017 launch. Now fans are wondering how the company will keep up the momentum.
Nintendo offered some clues from the Electronic Entertainment Expo, the game industry’s biggest trade show, which runs this week. Fortnite, the hottest game of the year, is coming to its Switch console, Nintendo announced Tuesday morning in a livestreamed news conference.
Switch sales have been strong, with 2.17 million units sold in its first year.
While the Switch has driven Nintendo to new heights, its work is far from over. If Nintendo’s last decade has shown anything, it’s that relying solely on your beloved characters can only take you so far.
Mario and the gang aren’t going anywhere, of course. But building up relationships with third-party developers is also key to the company’s success, said Reggie Fils-Aime, Nintendo of America’s president, as workers put the finishing touches on the show’s floor booth at the Los Angeles Convention Centre.
Such partnerships broaden the appeal to players, who may like the Switch’s mobility but be disappointed with its game selection.
“(Developers) want a platform itself that’s vibrant, growing and has a highly engaged player base,” Fils-Aime said.
Nintendo’s ambitions don’t stop there. Gamers are a bigger market than ever - about 2.6 billion people worldwide per the Entertainment Software Association. But the market can be even bigger, said Nintendo’s general manager of Entertainment Planning and Development, Shinya Takahashi. He wants to reach that non-gaming audience with Nintendo’s devices, too.
When it comes to hardware, Nintendo’s taking the “if you build it, they will come” approach. Takahashi said even the Switch’s success took time because developers had to see whether it would be a hit first.
While that’s arguably putting the cart before the horse, he said Nintendo will continue to think about ways to offer new playing experiences that everyone can appreciate. — Washington Post.