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Looking at Nintendo's potential third party support for the NX

thefro

Member
I wanted to go ahead and put a thread together since I've heard a lot of comments already talking about how the NX will have "literally zero third party support" or "very few third party games".

We don't have a lot of hard evidence yet, but what we have points to better Japanese third party support for the NX than Wii U received, as well as the possibility of better Western support.

What I've listed below are either statements/interviews from the companies themselves or reports from reliable sources (i.e. Serkan Toto's report about Bandai Namco). Also note these are retail publishers, so I'm not including indies or developers who don't publish their own titles.

Big thanks to Eradicate for helping out and providing some info. If anyone has anything to add that I've missed feel free to let me know.

---
Bandai Namco:
kznIIfF.png

---
Capcom:
Capcom Financial Results Briefing Oct 30 2015 said:
Q. What are your plans involving new platforms (NX, PlayStation® VR and others) and
the timing of launches of Capcom titles for these platforms?
A. Our R&D operations are working on technologies for many types of hardware. We
will consider the possibility of creating technology demonstrations and making
versions of titles under development for these new platforms. At this time, we have
not announced any plans for specific products or the timing of a product launch.
---
Electronic Arts:
22mOQj5.png

MY04keO.png

This is from their Q2 2016 Earnings Conference Call on Oct 29, 2015

Here is what one of their VPs said to BBC on May10th:

BBC said:
Battlefield is currently planned for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC but could it and other EA titles make an appearance on Nintendo's mysterious new console the NX when it comes out next year?
Patrick told us: "I personally and the company are huge fans of Nintendo, they're the reason why I started making games,
"We're in constant communication with them and when they come to market something - and if it makes sense for us - we'll be there."

And here is a Q&A from their recent May financial results that's also relevant

gUfaybQ.png

fPTrBr3.png


Basically, once they port Frostbite over to a platform, it's not a huge risk for them to support that platform.

---

GameTrust (Gamestop's new publishing division)

EGM said:
Mark Stanley, vice president of internal development at GameTrust, the GameStop subsidiary publishing Deformers, admitted to being in talks with Nintendo about the system.

“On the GameTrust side, we’ve seen where [Nintendo is] at and that’s a conversation that keeps going… Since they announced the NX officially, they’ve been kind of wrangling a lot of the inquiries… and, from my perspective, it seems like they’re trying to get their hands around what type of they content they want to have for their launch window.”

--

Koei Tecmo:
vGxtqUG.png

Koei Tecmo confirmed they were developing NX titles during their financial presentation on April 28th, 2016
---
Level 5:
IGN: Yo-Kai Watch Developer Open to Bringing Franchises to Wii U, NX

IGN said:
Level-5 CEO Akihiro Hino wants to get Yo-Kai Watch into the hands of as many players as possible. In an interview, Hino told us this means potential Yo-Kai Watch games on Wii U and potentially, Nintendo's next-gen platform known as NX.

IGN said:
As for the next generation of hardware, Hino expressed interest in developing game for the platform, if the console can "bring Level-5 games to as many kids as possible." If the company determines that to be the case, Hino told us "it wouldn’t be impossible" to see Level-5 developing games for it.

Hino also told us he believes Nintendo's Pokemon and Level-5's Yo-Kai Watch can co-exist peacefully. "If kids are willing to buy both of them, I couldn’t be happier," he said.

Hino spoke of Level-5 games broadly when discussing the NX, so there's the possibility that other Level-5 franchises, like Professor Layton or Fantasy Life, could appear on Nintendo's upcoming hardware.
---
Nippon Ichi:
Duckroll summarized this part about future business (from their recent financial results in Japanese):
But with regards to other consoles, they said they're actively looking into supporting the next generation of hardware - both PSVR and the NX, but it doesn't sound like a firm commitment.
---

Spike Chunsoft:

Gematsu translation of Famitsu interview said:
Talk about future hardware decisions…

“For stationary consoles, we’ll focus on PlayStation 4. After, Nintendo’s new hardware, the NX. I would also like to start fully working on Steam.”
---
Square Enix:
http://kotaku.com/these-are-the-first-nintendo-nx-games-1720545061

Kotaku said:
“Dragon Quest XI, which we announced today, as well as Dragon Quest X, which I’m working as a producer, are planned for release on the NX, which Nintendo is currently developing,” Square Enix producer Yosuke Saito very clearly said as he read from a script during the Dragon Quest event. He said further details would be announced at a later date. This was the last announcement made at Square Enix’s press conference and was part of a “message to all Dragon Quest players.”

Kotaku said:
Square Enix PR, however, issued a press release after the event saying, the games were being “considered” for the NX.

http://nintendoeverything.com/square-enix-open-to-bringing-final-fantasy-xiv-to-nx/

Nintendo Everything said:
Final Fantasy XIV may have a shot of coming to the NX. Director and producer Naoki Yoshida has said that he’s waiting to know when the console will be released, and the company would need to talk with Nintendo about the policies regarding cross-platform gameplay before a port can be considered. Note that negotiations with Nintendo have not yet been started.
---
Take-Two:


https://www.thestreet.com/story/136...-zelnick-we-re-here-to-delight-customers.html

TheStreet.com said:
Nintendo (NTDOY) has already announced Nintendo NX will be coming out in spring 2017. What impact will new consoles from the major players have on the gaming industry over the next couple of years?

It could be very exciting. You never want to count Nintendo out. They go quiet for a while and then they come to market and do something really exciting. We are very interested and watching closely the development of what Nintendo plans to do next.

Ubisoft:


OQLpxv9.png

Just Dance 2017 coming to NX "next year", announced during Ubi's E3 press conference
--

Here's a quick summary of some of the other major publishers who haven't mentioned the NX, but recently supported or are still supporting the Wii U. I would suspect they will all be supporting the NX as well to some extent.

Activision Blizzard:
Released 3 retail Wii U titles in 2015, Skylanders SuperChargers, Guitar Hero Live, and The Peanuts Movie: Snoopy's Grand Adventure.

Sega/Atlus:
Mario & Sonic at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games gets released on Wii U in June. Tokyo Mirage Sessions ♯FE also comes out in the west in June. Atlus is still a strong supporter of the 3DS, obviously.

Warner Brothers:
Still releasing Lego games on Wii U (where they sell fairly well). LEGO Star Wars: The Force Awakens comes out in June.

There's also some other minor publishers supporting Wii U, i.e. Deep Silver publishing Mighty No. 9/Bloodstained Ritual of the Night to retail, or Nordic Games bringing Legend of Kay Anniversary to Wii U last year.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think the only other third party publishers that are relevant on consoles that I haven't mentioned in either list are Bethesda/ZeniMax (privately held), CD Projekt Red, and Konami (not making many console games anymore).

Anyway, I hope this helps spark a little discussion. I'm not saying NX is going to have great third-party support for sure, but I think it's clearly going to be more than "very little".
 

Neoxon

Junior Member
You sure about EA? Given their recent comments, it doesn't seem like they're committed either way.

For now, I'm mostly expecting Japanese publishers & indie developers to support the NX Platform at launch (if the Japanese publishers will stick around will depend on if said platform is a success). The audience that western publishers typically go after are on PS4/XB1/PC, not Nintendo platforms. Until Nintendo can prove otherwise, I doubt that said western publishers will take a leap of faith for the NX Platform.....well, outside of the western publishers that supported the Wii U at launch, namely the likes of Ubisoft & Activision (& even they aren't guarantees given the decline of handhelds in the West & how badly the Wii U did in terms of sales).
 

Neoxon

Junior Member
The quoted article in the OP says the same thing and the topic is "potential", not "promised".
Fair enough. Though I personally would have organized it between very likely, somewhat likely, a bit of a chance, & a long-shot.
 

LewieP

Member
I think the biggest publisher that will offer zero support will be Bethesda.

But plenty of the other big publishers will only be offering token support. Late ports, lower budget games targeting a younger/family audience, and not much else.
 
I think Japan will be all over NX allowing them to manage their budget properly with exclusive handheld titles and even getting ports of their big AAA games.
NX, even the least optimistic hardware rumors, is pegged as being powerful enough to run basic AAA multiplatform titles and being fairly easy to port to so it'll likely depend on whether or not Nintendo can convince them to give it a shot an if the NX sells well enough.
So increasing marketing efforts in the "right" places, doing bundles, etc
 

TDLink

Member
I think all the Japanese third parties are going to support it quite a bit. Square, Level 5, Atlus, Capcom, Koei, and Namco I think will all give it strong support. Activision and Ubisoft will try all their stuff for at least the first year and go from there. EA could go either way. Bethesda probably won't support it at all.

That's how I see it shaking out.
 

Neoxon

Junior Member
I think all the Japanese third parties are going to support it quite a bit. Square, Level 5, Atlus, Capcom, Koei, and Namco I think will all give it strong support. Activision and Ubisoft will try all their stuff for at least the first year and go from there. EA could go either way. Bethesda probably won't support it at all.

That's how I see it shaking out.
This

Forgot to finish my sentence. I meant big Western third parties would be zero. Japanese should be fine
The likes of Activision, Ubisoft, & WB Games may give the NX Platform a fair shake at launch. On top of that, there's also western indie developers that Nintendo has done right by (for the most part) who will most likely give the NX Platform a fair bit of support as long as Nintendo stays the course as far as their indie support goes. Otherwise, I'd (unfortunately) have to agree.
 

Nosgotham

Junior Member
as long as i get japanese 3rd party support, i'm good. could care less about western developed multiplats outside of indies. Square Enix would be great
 

firelogic

Member
The NX will get 3rd party support just like the Wii and WiiU did. Namely, they'll get ports/remasters and maybe a few quirky exclusives and then it'll dry up because 3rd party games don't sell on Nintendo hardware.
 

AdanVC

Member
Top notch compilation, OP! Mad props. Ahhh I just hope NX can get enough 3rd party support to get through while we wait for the 1st party ones. With Wii U was rough to wait 3 to 4 months between each 1st party release without NOTHING releasing in between.
 

georly

Member
Only western third party I see supporting NX at launch is ubisoft, but that's only because they support EVERY new piece of hardware (console OR peripheral) at launch to capitalize on the lack of options. Throw crap see what sticks, milk it til it dies. A console doesn't get "real" ubisoft games unless the console is successful or forecast to be successful (like ps4).

If NX gets an install base that can't be ignored, then we'll see Western third party. And the last ones will be bethesda, but only if every other 3rd party is supporting it and it has a huge install base AND their game can be ported without too much hassle.


Not worried about JP third party, at least not year 1. Might not see HUGE hitters, but we'll have a decent amount of support. Praying nintendo keeps monster hunter.
 
Tons of third party developers announced they were making games for 3DS before launch. Most of those developers canceled their announced games, and only slowly came back after the 3DS started selling again (which happened only after Nintendo released some AAA franchises for it, like Mario Kart and Mario 3D Land). So what I'm saying is, don't trust any pre-announcements.

Third party developers cannot be counted on for the NX unless it gets great sales. So if Nintendo can get tons of people to buy the console at launch (by filling it with awesome first-party games), the third parties will follow.
 
Launching outside of the holiday probably cost them a bunch of easy ports they would have obviously got if they launched this year along side the other console versions.

I wonder what the 3rd party launch lineup will be if it meets its March target. Just a bunch of 4 month old ports of holiday 2016 games with maybe one or two 3rd party exclusives?



And I'd say EA supporting it depends on how powerful it is / if it can run Frostbite acceptably. Once its XB1 power or more it will probably get some support from them for a while.

Bet the typical 3rd parties that always support Nintendo will be there again though. Ubi will have something that takes advantage of the new gimmick. Namco and Tecmo will have stuff as always.
 
Ubisoft and their usual Japanese partners. I just wanna know if they'll have a reason to stick around this time aside from joint partnerships on specific games.
 

MAtgS

Member
I think NX could adopt Vita's support if it has the shared library approach. devs could target the NX handheld as their prime platform & they'd have a whole console demographic they could sell those same games to at little extra cost.
 

catmario

Member
I'm sure Activision will bring Call of duty infinite warfare and Modern Warfare remastered to NX with including DLCs.
 

RedSwirl

Junior Member
The Nx handheld will recieve support from the usual suspects, those japanese games need a handheld.

This is my current optimistic projection. My even more optimistic projection is that the ones currently supporting the Vita will also cross over. This is assuming all these developers don't just slide further into mobile.

If the NX is indeed some kind of shared software library between a handheld and a console, it gives those handheld developers even more reason to support it. I'm more specifically talking about the ones currently making games simultaneously for PS4 and Vita, where the PS4 game is usually just a souped-up Vita game. Instead of developing each of their games twice, on something like what Nintendo is proposing they could potentially just develop each game once and have it available to the install bases of the handheld and console, possibly even cross-buy. As such, NX could end up being where all the mid-tier and niche Japanese console games end up going.

Beyond that, maybe some AAA Japanese games like Resident Evil, Dragon Quest, and possibly even Final Fantasy for the console.

My optimistic look at the NX's potential third party support is it essentially becoming the final consolidation of Japanese games. And that's IF it can rip those publishers away from Sony (and mobile).

Western third parties still look like a long-shot to me, possibly a longer shot than ever. Maybe some token support through 2017, and that's just from EA, Ubisoft, and the other western publishers that actually have any history with Nintendo. Bethesda for instance? That company has virtually none.
 

J@hranimo

Banned
Launching outside of the holiday probably cost them a bunch of easy ports they would have obviously got if they launched this year along side the other console versions.

I wonder what the 3rd party launch lineup will be if it meets its March target. Just a bunch of 4 month old ports of holiday 2016 games with maybe one or two 3rd party exclusives?



And I'd say EA supporting it depends on how powerful it is / if it can run Frostbite acceptably. Once its XB1 power or more it will probably get some support from them for a while.

Bet the typical 3rd parties that always support Nintendo will be there again though. Ubi will have something that takes advantage of the new gimmick. Namco and Tecmo will have stuff as always.

While that's true, what would make the average gamer want to get the NX for the same ports dropping for their currently owned PS4 or XB1? That's also assuming the 1st party lineup is, again, lacking in Holiday compared to March.

Based on the op, Nintendo getting the usual Japanese third parties on board isn't really anything noteworthy. It should be strong enough to handle current gen games.
 

Schnozberry

Member
Nintendo should focus first on moving hardware and delivering a competent and well documented development environment. Getting western third parties on board will likely also require them to open up their wallet with some marketing dollars for key titles, along with giving third parties some breathing room on the release calendar. That would be a pretty big departure from their normal operations, but their Field of Dreams strategy has been a total failure thus far and things need to change for them to find themselves back on a truly competitive footing.
 

NOLA_Gaffer

Banned
Expect a repeat of the Wii U's situation. Decent support at launch with months old games that slowly drops off as the system turns out to be another underperforming piece of hardware.
 

yami4ct

Member
I'm really interested to see where the devs that currently support the Vita go once that finally fades out. There are only a few, but there quite a few good VN developers as well as some classic RPG guys like Falcom holding that fort. They are almost all putting out on PS4 as well, but handheld is still the bread and butter of those companies and I could see them all starting to move to developing for PS4 and NX just to keep those markets.
 

aadiboy

Member
I'm really interested to see where the devs that currently support the Vita go once that finally fades out. There are only a few, but there quite a few good VN developers as well as some classic RPG guys like Falcom holding that fort. They are almost all putting out on PS4 as well, but handheld is still the bread and butter of those companies and I could see them all starting to move to developing for PS4 and NX just to keep those markets.
PS4 and PC. I feel like if they wanted to support Nintendo before they would have done so with the DS or 3DS.
 

yami4ct

Member
PS4 and PC. I feel like if they wanted to support Nintendo before they would have done so with the DS or 3DS.

I can't see all those VN devs dropping handhelds all together when it's been their bread and butter for so long. It's not like the PS4 is all that healthy in their native territory.

Falcom is weird and is going to do whatever they're going to do.
 

jonno394

Member
Japanese third party support should be fine, and as someone else said, the potential for all those niche vita titles to transition over to the nx handheld is also there.

Third parties in the west that will support at launch are likely Ubisoft, activision and maybe WB, the latter with their toys to life titles at least.
 

Maxinas

Member
Expect a repeat of the Wii U's situation. Decent support at launch with months old games that slowly drops off as the system turns out to be another underperforming piece of hardware.

I'll quote you on this and say that, that won't be the case this time around.
 

Eradicate

Member
I'm really interested to see where the devs that currently support the Vita go once that finally fades out. There are only a few, but there quite a few good VN developers as well as some classic RPG guys like Falcom holding that fort. They are almost all putting out on PS4 as well, but handheld is still the bread and butter of those companies and I could see them all starting to move to developing for PS4 and NX just to keep those markets.

Absolutely! As you said, handheld is a great market for many developers, if not their outright preference, and they'll want to go somewhere! That's why Nippon Ichi is so interesting since they looked to be pivoting towards Vita but now have interest in the NX!

Awesome OP by the way! Great summation of all the statements out there from third parties! I think that (as pretty usual for new hardware launches) there will be at the beginning at least a good showing to test out the new platform and nab potential sells from those wanting games to go with their shiny new system. Probably many of the "yearly games" that come out (some of the shooters and sports games) will be there at least the first year to see how they fair!
 
R

Rösti

Unconfirmed Member
From an earlier, now closed, NX thread, I quote myself:

Rösti said:
This is very minor, but worth a mention. I have previously written about Soul and Vibe Interactive's intentions to pursue development and publishing licensing for NX, as they reported most recently in a 10-K filing dated January 02, 2016:

Our existing hardware platform licenses are with Microsoft (for the Xbox 360, Windows 8, Windows Live, and Windows Phone), with Sony (for the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita), and with Nintendo of America for the Nintendo 3DS™ system and the Wii U™ system. (The Company also intends to pursue development and publishing licensing for Nintendo’s forthcoming console, codenamed “NX,” which is rumored to launch in 2016.) Our publishing licenses with Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo require that we obtain approval for publication of new titles on a title-by-title basis. As a result, the number of titles we are able to publish for these hardware platforms and our ability to time the release of titles is dependent upon decisions made by third party hardware manufacturers.
Source: http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/da...6092295/R8.htm

Considering NX is now scheduled for a release in March 2017, I asked them about their intentions as of now. This is what they replied with:

Rösti said:
@SoulandVibe With #Nintendo #NX releasing in March 2017, do you still intend to pursue development and publishing licensing for the system?
Soul and Vibe said:
@RostiNeoGAF We're currently licensees of Nintendo for the 3DS & Wii U; we do plan to ultimately publish product for the forthcoming NX.
Source: https://twitter.com/RostiNeoGAF/stat...01103217627136
Again, very minor, but worth a mention as I didn't see this in the OP.
 

Hiltz

Member
Honestly, I'd keep my expectations low. Several third parties will naturally consider supporting NX early on, but regardless of their admiration for Nintendo, if NX proves to quickly not be viable to their business, then they'll either abandon it, or a few will be very selective in what titles they choose to bring over. You know, games that appeal to kids and families such as Lego games and Just Dance like what we saw on Wii U by 2014. All the AAA ports were essentially cancelled with the exception of the late, doomed release of Ubisoft's Watch Dogs (not that it would have sold well if it came out on time).

Of course, there's always going to be some third parties that will refuse to even consider supporting NX because they will always believe (and perhaps backed up by marketing and demographic data as well as early third party software sales) that Nintendo's home consoles don't have much in the way of a supportive, target audience that's willing to buy their software.
Anyway, I'll keep my fingers crossed. If Capcom can at least put out a new Monster Hunter game on NX, then I'll be quite happy. Nintendo, do not screw this up! PS4 sales are still low in Japan, you have an opportunity to win back Japan's home console market.
 
NX/PS4/PC combo sounds like the best right now. I don't plan on picking up the NX though. I barely get time to game and the support the NX is potentially getting isn't worth me putting down my other games.
 

MacTag

Banned
We know that?
We don't for sure, but it's what the shared library theory is predicated on.

Basically imagine if Wii U could also play the entire 3DS library in addition to it's own, only the games would automatically scale to 720p/400p 2nd screen. And how that might have changed things for the systems.

Japanese third party support should be fine, and as someone else said, the potential for all those niche vita titles to transition over to the nx handheld is also there.

Third parties in the west that will support at launch are likely Ubisoft, activision and maybe WB, the latter with their toys to life titles at least.
I expect Ubisoft, Activision and WB all to give it another go day one, even with core games. We'll probably see some COD, Arkham and AC/WD ports at least. All these companies have good relationships with Nintendo and I think all will see the potential value of an immediate presense on NX despite how Wii U went.

The big western publishers Nintendo really needs to put work in for are EA and T2. If only for sports games but it'd be great if they could snag more like Battlefield, GTA, NFS, etc.

Even if Bethseda decides to port their games on the NX, I hope Nintendo doesn't let them.
That'd be dumb. I don't really see Bethesda bothering unless NX is a Wii like sales juggernaut, but if they had the opportunity to get Elder Scrolls, Fallout and Mikami on their platform I don't see Nintendo saying no. Reggie alone would probably push it through given he's a big Skyrim fan.
 
The only real question mark for me is how much of the budget and mid-tier Japanese support currently coming mainly to PS4/Vita will carry over.

Otherwise, I expect very little beyond indies, Japanese 3DS support (DQ, MH, YW, SMT, EO), and the handful of remaining Western casual/family franchises (Lego, Just Dance, Skylanders).
 

Neoxon

Junior Member
The only real question mark for me is how much of the budget and mid-tier Japanese support currently coming mainly to PS4/Vita will carry over.

Otherwise, I expect very little beyond indies, Japanese 3DS support (DQ, MH, YW, SMT, EO), and the handful of remaining Western casual/family franchises (Lego, Just Dance, Skylanders).
This guy gets it.
 
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