• Hey everyone, staff have documented a list of banned content and subject matter that we feel are not consistent with site values, and don't make sense to host discussion of on Famiboards. This list (and the relevant reasoning per item) is viewable here.
  • Do you have audio editing experience and want to help out with the Famiboards Discussion Club Podcast? If so, we're looking for help and would love to have you on the team! Just let us know in the Podcast Thread if you are interested!

Discussion What third party publisher has given Switch the best support?

curl-6

curl-6

Chain Chomp
Nintendo's relationship with third party publishers on Switch has been interesting to say the least.
Which publisher other than the big N themselves do you think has done best by the Switch, and please elaborate on why they deserve the title?


57282_8_stardock-switch-need-third-party-games.jpg
 
Platinum, but that's because Nintendo funded their games....other than that it's difficult, maybe Capcom with Monster Hunter Rise, there's hardly one game from third parties made in mind for switch from big developers/publishers...
 
I remember A LOT of hope when that image came out and especially when you have the likes of FromSoftware on there, though the Switch only got a remastered of Dark Souls. Switch definitely got good third party/indie support for a Nintendo console however but definitely not the wild dreams some had.

Koei Tecmo is probably the best because almost all of their output outside of their major games(Nioh, CHAOS) has released on switch. They've also done some licensed stuff for Nintendo and heavily worked on games like MUA 3 and Three Houses.
 
KT no doubt, they been onboard day 1 and even their latest ports offers some of the best graphics in switch. Kudos also to Inti creates as switch has become the main platform
 
How are we doing this?

Unknown worlds has put 100% of their games released from 2014 to current on the switch.

Winner?
 
0
I think its one of these three:

Koei Tecmo: Practically everything they do at this point + major development support on first-party million-sellers, in particular Nintendo's now go-to team for the growing Fire Emblem behemoth.

Square-Enix: Most everything they do that is not Final Fantasy mainline; Exclusive (Triangle Strategy) or Semi-exclusive titles (Octopath) in addition to a multitude of titles w/ Switch as the probable base platform (Neo World Ends With You), perhaps the best example of prescient reading of an audience to make certain smaller-scale projects a reality (Live A Live, Bravely Default, NEO again hey they cant all be winners).

Microsoft: Pub of an all-time Blockbuster and probably the best-selling third party title (Minecraft), holder of IP beloved of the Nintendo audience that has resulted in cross-platform releases (Banjo ... and soon Goldeneye?) and now thru proxy supplier of loads of "AAA Mature titles" that has greatly helped to diversify the lineup (DOOM, Wolfenstein, Outer Worlds, Hellblade, Skyrim, Ori).

Honorable mention to Capcom who have brought mega-blockbuster Monster Hunter Rise and I believe are prepping a platform-targeted Resident Evil (Soon? Tmrw!?).
 
For me at least, Square. I went from being pretty meh on their offerings for a decade or more to counting and realizing I have more games from them on my Switch than any other dev besides Nintendo themselves. And I haven't even bought into the SaGa or Seiken Densetsu series yet, which if I did would probably put them over Nintendo on my count.
 
Imagine fifteen years ago that some of the best third-party support a Nintendo system would get would be from Square, Microsoft and Bethesda, while the likes of Sega, Namco and Capcom were just... ok.

Though Capcom is getting better.
 
0
Square by both quality and quantity, but they avoided miracle ports.

After them Namco. A lot of games, both remasters and miracle ports of modern games. But their biggest franchises have still yet to come.

Third place belongs to Embracer. They know what to do with the system. But they're behind Namco in terms of quantity.
 
Itā€™s not their entire catalog, but I think itā€™s Square. Capcom sold 8 million units of Monster Hunter Rise on Switch, I think they are number two.
 
0
I think it has to be Square. They put a large portion of their back catalog on the Switch pretty quickly, and then now most of their AA output is Switch-focused, including several games developed as timed or full exclusives. That adds up to a large quantity of games coupled with some pretty quality titles (the Asano games and Neo TWEWY are some of my favorite titles on the Switch)
 
Nis/Nisa is worth a mention. They went from only occasionally putting out a game on a Nintendo system to putting everything on it, even doing some exclusives and convincing other companies to bring games to Switch, even doing some of the port work themselves.
 
  • Bethesda brought a few of its biggest releases like Skyrim, Wolfenstein II, Doom Eternal
  • Capcom brought Monster Hunter Rise which is probably the biggest third-party exclusive on the platform
  • Square brought the highest number of third-party temp exclusives
  • Bandai Namco is probably the most prolific one with its numerous licensed games
  • Sega brought Shin Megami Tensei V besides other stuff
  • Also Warner Bros brought Mortal Kombat 11 day-and-date, also The Skywalker Saga

Square may take it overall.
I'm mostly interested in Capcom stuff, Monster Hunter Rise is one of my favorite Switch games, also I enjoyed the RE Revelations games, but too many of their big titles skipped the platform, otherwise I'd try to argue for them :p

But I'd give it to Devolver Digital xD
 
Last edited:
Probably Square Enix, but I'm sort of narrow minded with this sort of thing because if a game is not an RPG I will probably buy it on a platform that is not the Switch. But stuff like Octopath, Triangle Strategy, TWEWY NEO, Trials of Mana, DQ11S, and the SaGa/Mana collections all seem like console standouts to me.
 
Square Enix is probably the best. Tons of great new games (NEO The World Ends With You, Octopath Traveler, Chocobo GP etc.) and a strong selection of classics even with some glaring omissions (FF6, Chrono Trigger, and Super Mario RPG first come to mind). Could make some strong arguments for a few other publishers too.

Even with new hardware floating somewhere on the horizon, the wild part is the original Switch still has at least all of this year and 2023 to truly cement its legacy before entering a probably still pretty great extended cross gen period.
 
Itā€™s Microsoft, especially if you include Bethesdaā€™s titles.

Minecraft is the single biggest non F2P 3rd party title on Switch. Then youā€™ve got the likes of The Outer Worlds, Cuphead, Ori 1 & 2, Banjo Kazooie etcā€¦ then add on Bethesda (including Doom 2016; the game that directly changed the consoleā€™s narrative and paved the way for pretty much every single other AAA western developed 3rd party port on the system); and itā€™s no contest.

Square-Enix is a very respectable 2nd though. Outside of the mainline FF and KH titles, theyā€™ve honestly given just about the best support you can ask of them. And the Asano Team titles (all built as true Switch exclusives) are legitimately the highest quality titles that S-E have put out since the 16-bit/32-bit eras.
 
Koei Tecmo, Square Enix, Bandai Namco, Capcom and Marvelous.

No need to say much about the first three, the amount of games they have published speak for themselves. (even though some people would argue about a supposed anti-Switch bias by Bamco lmao)

Capcom has been better than what people give them credit for. They're putting basically everything they can on it (even tried Resident Evil 7 until they had to settle for a cloud version), and even made some games with the Switch as the primary target.

Marvelous is often overlooked because they're not as well known, especially given how their games were often published by other companies in the west during previous gens, but they have released a loooot of games on Switch, many which were even exclusives or temporary exclusives. Story of Seasons, Rune Factory, No More Heroes, Daemon x Machina, Sakuna... Lot of good stuff.
When it comes to niche games, they're by far the biggest publisher on Switch imo.
 
Capcom is easily on the shortlist. Monster Hunter Rise, Monster Hunter Stories 2 then Great Ace Attorney 2 was a hell of a run last year.

Iā€™m constantly surprised that everyone forgets MH Stories 2 in these threads, itā€™s an awesome JRPG in its own right.

Square Enix has done well too. Octopath, Triangle Strategy, Live A Live, Dragon Quest XI/Builders/Builders 2. Considering how much theyā€™ve got coming up (DQ Treasures, X offline, DQIII, Front Mission, Diofield, plus some rumoured titles) Iā€™d say they probably take it.
 
0
Square Enix, Koei Tecmo, NIS(A), maybe also Marvelous.

(But that's a me-bias since all these make games I really care for)

Bandai Namco would probably on there too, if they didn't stop putting non-DB stuff on Switch.
 
0
MaitreWakou said:
No need to say much about the first three, the amount of games they have published speak for themselves. (even though some people would argue about a supposed anti-Switch bias by Bamco lmao)
Click to expand...
I think I have to explain this everytime lol, Bamco is a big company with a dozen of developers and the one that is always said to have anti-Switch bias is Bandai Namco Studios the biggest and most important one, they have ported or made 0 of their own games for the Switch outside Go Vacation (port of Wii game) and God Eater 3 (that was developed and ported by Marvelous). Only thing that 'saves' BNS support is that Nintendo keeps giving them contract work for their games

And then there is that almost all their anime games don't come day 1 to Switch if they are not made by Koei Tecmo (and now CC2) and them not greenlighting .hack port until recently when since 2018 CC2 wanted to do it.
 
0
Jupiter

Shiba said:
I remember A LOT of hope when that image came out and especially when you have the likes of FromSoftware on there, though the Switch only got a remastered of Dark Souls. Switch definitely got good third party/indie support for a Nintendo console however but definitely not the wild dreams some had.
Click to expand...
From's frustrating because Dark Souls 2 SOTFS and 3D Dot Game Heroes would both be easy ports and do pretty well on the system. The latter especially imo, I could even see Nintendo doing a Zelda 1 tie-in deal for exclusive content.
 
Yeah, in light of recent events, I have to give this to Square Enix.

Octopath Traveler, Triangle Strategy, Bravely Default 2, Dragon Quest 11/Heroes/Builders 1 & 2/Treasures, Oninaki, I Am Setsuna, Lost Sphear, Chocobo GP, Live A Live, Harvestella, Diofield Chronicle, Nier Automata, Crisis Core Reunion... no other big publisher has committed this much content to Nintendo's hybrid, to my knowledge.

Most of their stuff is not my cup of tea personally, but I have to give credit where credit is due.
Honourable mentions to Bethesda and Tecmo Koei.

Switch may not have PS/Xbox levels of third party support, but I have to say, after the Wii U, it feels like a rainstorm after a long drought. :)
 
Last edited:
KT is the easiest answer here. Their games may not be as big, but they are consistent on delivering both co-developed and self-published games on Switch ever since.

SE is an interesting case. The Enix side is very much well represented, Square side not so much. They do have the quantity though.

Konami is a big surprise. West don't feel much their presence, but in Japan their new games are practically always Switch bound and are big hitters.
 
Thinking about it some more, I feel like Rebellion deserves props as well.

They brought over Sniper Elite 2/3/4, Zombie Army Trilogy, Zombie Army 4, and Strange Brigade, and their ports are some of the best PS4-to-Switch conversions out there, with significantly better image and texture quality than the vast majority of such ports.

All my fingers are crossed that they bring over Sniper Elite 5 as well.
 
curl-6 said:
Thinking about it some more, I feel like Rebellion deserves props as well.

They brought over Sniper Elite 2/3/4, Zombie Army Trilogy, Zombie Army 4, and Strange Brigade, and their ports are some of the best PS4-to-Switch conversions out there, with significantly better image and texture quality than the vast majority of such ports.

All my fingers are crossed that they bring over Sniper Elite 5 as well.
Click to expand...
Evil Genius 2 is next I think, and it's much better fit for Switch than others. Nice little villain lair management game. I was actually expecting it in this Direct, but I guess we have to wait a little longer.
 
0
Level-5 being there is so funny now that I realize when their plans for Switch was let's go mobile, Switch is going to flop LOL
 
0
NISA (specifically, but NIS HQ was obviously instrumental in that) and Koei Tecmo, bar none. They've been faithful since day 1. NIS/NISA ported Disgaea 5 Complete, their flat out biggest and most important game day 1 (well, only in Japan but the later release in the west may have been warranted due to BOTW), and KT started strong with some launch day ports (none left JP but still...) but kept GOING. And that's before you get to the MANY collabs with Nintendo over the Switch's lifespan.

Every other 3rd-party publisher only at best provided decent support, but the aforementioned two put pretty much their all into the Switch. KT's only hiccup is their larger Team Ninja stuff, but that's really it. We even got Dynasty Warriors 9 Empires (as rough as that turned out, but who on Earth is shocked at that with how the OG release was?).

I truly hope the rest of the industry shape up for the Switch 2 when it comes out, because some "support" has been quite frankly, embarrassing.
 
0
I feel like a lot of people are sleeping on pre-aquisition Bethesda. They pretty much ported all but a few of their modern games before MS bought them to Switch (ESO, FO76, FO4, and Rage 2 being the exceptions) and some of those games people considered miracle ports.

Skyrim Anniversary Edition
Wolfenstein 2
Wolfenstein Young Blood
DOOM
DOOM Eternal
Classic DOOM games
Classic Quake

Taste and quality is one subject that some may question, but one cannot deny that for a western 3rd party Bethesda has shown a ton of support for Switch.
 
Twilight Sword said:
I feel like a lot of people are sleeping on pre-aquisition Bethesda. They pretty much ported all but a few of their modern games before MS bought them to Switch (ESO, FO76, FO4, and Rage 2 being the exceptions) and some of those games people considered miracle ports.

Skyrim Anniversary Edition
Wolfenstein 2
Wolfenstein Young Blood
DOOM
DOOM Eternal
Classic DOOM games
Classic Quake

Taste and quality is one subject that some may question, but one cannot deny that for a western 3rd party Bethesda has shown a ton of support for Switch.
Click to expand...
Nintendo's courtship dance must've been very seductive
 
I guess NIS(A) are too small/niche in many people's eyes to get included in their answers. ;-(
Marvelous as well. Alas, at least Koei Tecmo get the recognition they deserve. Square-Enix are doing well overall, too, but it's not been as smooth as with the three aforementioned, I'd say. Same for Capcom; Rise is excellent, and we've seen some good midrange/late port support, but there's a distinct lack of more dedicated Switch projects.
Bandai Namco and Sega have been rather hit and miss so far, with notable omissions of games that seem like good fits and doable ports.

I don't know as much about the western side of things, but Blizzard and Bethesda both seem like solid supporters overall. Not to mention the great Indie line-up. Every other big western publisher seems pretty inconsistent, though I guess THQ and everything belonging to the Embracer Group has been doing a solid job, too.
 
Capcom, Square Enix, Koei Tecmo gave outstanding support with ports and lot new games.

Ubisoft, Take Two, Microsoft, Bethesda, Blizzard, THQ, Atlus, Sega, and Marvellous are also honorable mentions. There Output is good too.
 
0
Ubisoft, Bethesda, Microsoft, Square Enix, Konami, NIS, Capcom, Atlus/Sega, Koei Tecmo, Marvelous, Take-Two, Jupiter.
There many others that I'm forgetting, but that's a good list of reliable partners for the Switch era.
 
Itā€™s NIS honestly. They are pretty much the one Japanese company that figured out that Switch was going to be in their advantage, therefore they got out of this PS2 era mindset/Yamauchi PTSD and they supported it. They even dragged Falcom around in the process. Every other company has some sort of huge caveat in terms of games missing or ports arriving way too late, meanwhile NISā€™ output is consistent.
 
0
You must log in or register to reply here.


Back
Top Bottom