[TheGameBusiness] “Most third-party Switch 2 games posted very low numbers. One third-party publisher characterised the numbers as ‘below our lowest estimates’, despite strong hardware sales.”
![[TheGameBusiness] "Most third-party Switch 2 games posted very low numbers. One third-party publisher characterised the numbers as ‘below our lowest estimates’, despite strong hardware sales."](https://www.fpshub.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/hTg8CapIATz3AGqfsDsBti1F1C4QyxZCONCYbvV9yU.jpeg "[TheGameBusiness] “Most third-party Switch 2 games posted very low numbers. One third-party publisher characterised the numbers as ‘below our lowest estimates’, despite strong hardware sales.”")
[TheGameBusiness] “Most third-party Switch 2 games posted very low numbers. One third-party publisher characterised the numbers as ‘below our lowest estimates’, despite strong hardware sales.”
45 Comments
When your games are available elsewhere, people won’t double-dip unless you offer something exclusive on Switch 2 or similar :S
It doesn’t help that most of these games are “older” and run better on other hardware
Isn’t that usually how Nintendo systems go? And with the price hike most people are probably getting Mario kart with less money to drop on a second game right away.
I’d wager most switch players also have a pc or another console to play any games that aren’t Nintendo. It makes zero sense to play Cyberpunk on switch 2 if you have anything else to play it on
Because they’re the same damn games everyone has already bought twice
Yeah, just what I wanted, to buy cyberpunk a second time.
I grabbed Cyberpunk to replay it cause it’s all on cart. Storage space is still kinda limited, I’m not wasting it on a game I’ve already played.
Would have picked up Yakuza if it wasn’t a game key though.
Maybe put your games on a real cartridge?
All of these years old games are available elsewhere for massive discounts while they are sold as premium on Switch 2
CP2077 goes for 100CAD on Switch 2 and I got it earlier this year on steam for 35CAD
It’s gotta be a special game for me to want a code on a card over a physical (switch 1) or getting the digital version. Haven’t seen any yet that interested me.
I dunno what their estimates were, but this has pretty much always been the case w/ third-party sales on Nintendo consoles.
Well Nintendo consoles are mainly bought by many for Nintendo games
No shit, a lot of the early adopters probably have multiple consoles and have already bought the games getting rereleased.
It makes sense, why would anyone buy a shit version of a 5 year old game
A they’re pretty much all old re-releases,
B history has proven time and time again 99% of nintendo players are buying first party and little else
It seems Cyberpunk sold well so, other companies should take note:
– Make an A effort on your ports.
– Don’t use Key cards.
But of course all they gonna do is make minimum effort and blame everything but themselves.
Nintendo hardware has always been an exclusive machine.
No reason to buy third party games imo
The exact reason I haven’t bought a switch 2 is because I don’t have enough money to buy a switch 2 WITH GAMES.
I’d be sitting at home playing Mario kart world and my existing switch games
Fuckin duh? Nobody is buying a Switch to play third-party games.
“they didn’t want to spend $70 on a shit version of an old game that regularly sells for $20 on Steam”
(Surprised Pikachu face)
Seriously. We buy Nintendo consoles for Nintendo games. That’s it.
I mean who is buying Nintendo consoles for 3rd part games? Especially games that have been out on other platforms for of 5+ years…
Am I interested in 3rd party games on the Switch 2? Yes.
Am I interested in older 3rd party games on the Switch 2 that I already own on another console/PC? Not really.
Only “new” game I got on my Switch 2 that isn’t Nintendo was Dying Light and that’s cause it was on sale for 12 bucks.
All the games they were banking on were already purchased on other hardware when it released. Why would these people thing they’re going to be re-purchased on a system that is still inferior?
That and people who buy Nintendo systems do so specifically for the first party games they offer. If Nintendo ever let mario and zelda come to Playstation then all those players would stop buying Nintendo systems lol
The only one I’d be worried about having low numbers is split fiction because i don’t think it was available on switch 1
What games? CDPR isn’t the developer complaining. So the cyberpunk image is clickbait. One third party developer allegedly made the comment in the thread title. Also clickbait….
Yeah no shit, not only does nobody buy Nintendo for 3rd party the switch 2 is still very weak in comparison to current generation hardware.
Also I assume after spending all that money on their console and 1st party games nobody had the money for older struggling to run 3rd party games.
Since when does anyone get a Nintendo console for third party? Especially when most of the games have been out for years? Take Cyberpunk. We all remember that saga, how it took years to finally get it to a level where the good game beyond all the jank could finally come out. Very few who wanted to play that haven’t done so already.
The console has barely been out for like 2 weeks. People who just dumped a bunch of money on the console and maybe MKW if they didn’t get the bundle probably aren’t buying a bunch of other games as well just yet. DK Bananza is dropping within a month as well.
3rd party is going to do just fine and probably stronger than people expect on Switch 2, it’s just this is terrible timing to try and look at the numbers. Come back a year from now or longer and look at the numbers for games like The Witcher, No Man’s Sky, Elden Ring, Cyberpunk, GTA, Batman Arkham, Persona, etc. Wait for a period of 1st party dry spell from Nintendo and people will buy 3rd party.
There are floods of videos showing just how strong Switch 2 can run some of these games, which I think will make a case that the games can sell just fine on Switch 2. There’s only a few million consoles out right now, people need to wait until there’s a larger base out to care about these numbers yet.
Wow, I continue winning not buying things day 1
What a streak
Microsoft is turning XBox into a publisher, Playstation said they wanted to be “the best place to game and publish”. I know Nintendo does things it’s way, but I feel they’re losing a trend, and doing thing their way led them to great times, but also WiiU times.
Historically especially since the wii, most 3rd parties struggle to get any real sales from nintendo. I personally would of liked to see the sales on less hardware heavy indie games looking at the wii, all the way to the current day with the switch 2.
I feel it is a testimet to nintendo’s quality control, and just overall power with its fan base. But i feel there is a hidden poison in this, in that if you get sick of the various nintendo flagahips, you could find yourself never basically playing another nintendo product.
It’s happened to me and a few friends and family. I wouldnt say i hate nintendo for example, and i still praise their products. But i havent personally bought for myself a nintendo game in over 10 years. I was buying them for my niece as she aged, but shes also sort of burbed out on most of their ip’s.
Ill be curious how 3rd parties treat the new switch going forward
Because nintendo fans don’t play any other games than first party, well most of them don’t. Cyberpunk is the best selling third party game and yet it was around 40k copies vs 700k copies of switch2.
Maybe now these publishers will realize that key card games aren’t going to sell.
I only buy first party Nintendo games, everything else I play on pc / steam deck.
Why would I want to repurchase a game I already own on a different platform?
Tbh it’s two things for me.
Pricing and the new switch 2 upgrades of old games. Playing Pokémon violet upgraded means I don’t really have time to worry about new games.
I am waiting on cyberpunk to be a little cheaper on the eshop though or for a cheaper physical copy of it on resale. Preferably the physical copy cause I’ve already maxed out the 512gb storage with my old switch games.
The bait and switch of pretending to sell cartridges and then **opening up the physical game case to find that there is only a piece of paper with a download code on it** might have something to do with no one wanting to buy your bullshit.
If you’re going to try and rip people off because you have some incentive to maximize profits, don’t be surprised when the people decide to not buy your games.
> What’s more, many of the titles are using ‘Game Key Cards’, which require users to download the game once they’ve put in the cartridge. This has proven unpopular amongst core audiences, who appreciate the plug and play nature of Nintendo Switch. It’s noteworthy that Cyberpunk 2077, the one third-party game that has done reasonable numbers, runs off the cartridge and doesn’t require a download.
I know for myself and probably a lot of people the switch is for Nintendo games and exclusives. Everything else that’s on pc or ps5 I’m getting it on that .
So in other words the games we already sold didn’t resell on a new console that really doesn’t compete against other consoles.
This is what happens when there are no pre-release reviews. They are marketing for games.
I have already played and beat cyberpunk and the only other third party game I really know is fantasy life??
Because no one wants key card games 🤷♂️
Cp77 sw2 70 euro, cp77 PS4 15 euro
No 8 year old isnt gonna have Cyber Punk under the christmas tree for their Switch. And adults who want to play it have done so already elsewhere.
Its also not our fault the launch titles were pretty much actually just launch title
Nintendo Switch 2: WiiU Boogaloo