As some of you may know, the online mode update for NBA Playgrounds was supposed to come to the Switch some weeks ago, but until know we haven't received anything.
Today the dev has finally provided more information about why this is happening, and it doesn't sound good for devs who plan to patch their Switch games:
An example of what is holding up the approval process:
About reducing file size:
Quotes from: https://www.reddit.com/r/NintendoSw...laygrounds_update_from_developer_spoiler_not/
And this is not the first time this happened, as the dev of Shifty has also complained that his patch wasn't approved by Nintendo because of the size.
Because of this, I wouldn't expect big post-launch support on Switch games, and this is just unacceptable for a company like Nintendo.
Today the dev has finally provided more information about why this is happening, and it doesn't sound good for devs who plan to patch their Switch games:
I don't want to even talk about it. I can't talk about it publicly but I am at wits end. Online has been functional for weeks...
Unfortunately there isn't much update I can provide. There are certain elements of our patch that are absolutely essential but that are out of normal Nintendo guidelines. If Nintendo were to approve the patch it would be released immediately, but we are in the midst of a long process of back-and-forth to get small matters waived. It isn't that we aren't working on this. In fact, getting this relatively simple patch out has consumed more of our time than making further improvements in additions to the game. When I say it is entirely out of her hands I mean that. We were put in a position where we needed to get this game out at the same time as the other consoles and because the platform was so new, it suffered in certain areas. There isn't even a change log at this point - is the same patch that has been sitting there for weeks
An example of what is holding up the approval process:
The simplest one is patch size. There are certain size requirements that you can't exceed in a patch. It took us almost 3 weeks to get an exception to allow our patch to be larger than the normal size. And the reason it is larger is due to the technology we are using and is beyond our control. In fact, we proposed reducing the entire file size of the game from seven gigs to 3 1/2 gigs but because the platform is so new it doesn't support it now and that can't be done
About reducing file size:
[Nintendo] won't allow it initially as their system doesn't support it. From our end it's already done.
Once it's supported we will be able to do it.
Quotes from: https://www.reddit.com/r/NintendoSw...laygrounds_update_from_developer_spoiler_not/
And this is not the first time this happened, as the dev of Shifty has also complained that his patch wasn't approved by Nintendo because of the size.
Because of this, I wouldn't expect big post-launch support on Switch games, and this is just unacceptable for a company like Nintendo.