'Let them slug it out on mobile or Steam' - the quiet benefits of Nintendo's eShop

- Brjann Sigurgeirsson with SteamWorld Dig developer Image & Form talks about Nintendo's eShop on Nintendo Everything. While game developers vie for players' attention on increasingly crowded digital storefronts, there is one online market that, to some developers, is quieter and more manageable: Nintendo’s eShop. Image & Form’s Sigurgeirsson called the eShop an “El Dorado” that has yet to be “invaded by greedy, cheapskate (developer) conquistadores who insist on trading glass beads for gold, making shallow games with a minimum of effort and yearning to race us to the bottom.” Sigurgeirsson added that eShop customers are knowledgeable about games and that the game quality is relatively high, helping make the eShop a developer-friendly environment, particularly for independent developers. The commentary comes at a time when Nintendo rivals Microsoft and Sony are making public pushes to attract indie game developers to Xbox One and PlayStation. Sigurgeirsson says Nintendo is quieter about its indie push, but is still dedicated to supporting small teams. “I hope that Nintendo stays the same – it may not be visible to everyone, but they are great at 'handling' us indies – we want to be loved, and we feel that they love us,” he said. “A lot.” There’s more at Nintendo Everything, including commentary from Toki Tori developer Two Tribes and Pure Chess publisher Ripstone, about the good — and bad — of the eShop.