Nintendo’s Senior Marketing Manager for publisher and developer relations, Damon Baker, has said that the company doesn’t get a lot of exclusive indie games because it isn’t “throwing around a lot of cash.” In an interview with Game Informer, Baker said that exclusivity deals aren’t very beneficial for indie developers and that Nintendo encourages its partners to opt for simultaneous releases.
We’re not known for exclusive [indie games] in particular, and that’s because we’re not throwing around a lot of cash. We also don’t see a huge benefit to developers in driving exclusive deals with platforms and consoles. They need to do what’s right for them from a business perspective, and we want to help complement that and make sure that they’re making the most from the experience on our platforms. We very much encourage all of our development partners to release simultaneously across all platforms.
Baker went on to say that Nintendo has “seen data” which proves that developers benefit more from multi-platform releases as opposed to exclusive arrangements.
We’ve seen the data that proves that the developers are the ones that are going to benefit from that versus going with an exclusive arrangement. We’re certainly not going to frown upon those people that are bringing exclusive content over to us, because we will make the most of it and make sure they are doing a great job with it. I think that we have a strong focus on multiplatform content, and that’s because we do have a point of differentiation with our control schemes and what these developers can create in a unique environment.
Considering that Baker was specifically talking about indies, do our readers think that smaller developers benefit more from multi-platform releases? Share your thoughts with us.
[Source: Game Informer]
