Developer Says Nintendo 3DS eShop's Indie Market is Dead

A developer responsible for several indie games within the Nintendo 3DS eShoptheorizes that the [...]

A developer responsible for several indie games within the Nintendo 3DS eShoptheorizes that the market for his and other indie games is finished within the store.

Jools Watsham, an indie dev who recently released a game called Chicken Wiggle and may also be recognized for his work on Mutant Mudds, posted on his own blog about his newest game. More specifically, he discussed how his most recent game didn't exactly do as well as he'd anticipated it would, something that he said might be attributed to a supposedly dead indie market.

Posting a blog entry several weeks after Chicken Wiggle hit the market, Watsham said that he was confident that the effort put into the game would pay off. It unfortunately didn't for the developer, the game bringing in what Washam referred to as "shockingly low" sales.

Compared to his other games, the new indie title didn't bring in near as much. Watsham was unsure of the reasoning behind that, but he had a couple of different theories to explain it.

"Clearly, I misjudged something," Watsham said. "Perhaps the game is not appealing to the 3DS eShop audience? Perhaps it is overpriced? Perhaps the 3DS eShop audience has moved onto the Switch? Maybe it is one of these things. Maybe it is all of these things. Maybe it is something else that I am unaware of."

But after discussing the differences between Chicken Wiggle and his other games and going over the promising reviews that the game received prior to its launch, Watsham settled on the belief that the indie marked on the 3DS simply doesn't exist any more.

"Sadly, I believe the Nintendo 3DS eShop is dead for 'Nindies,'" he said. "The audience that buys indie titles on Nintendo platforms has moved on to the Switch."

Watsham went on to say that he still loves the Nintendo 3DS very much, but he said that he's not sure what kind of indie game could survive on the handheld device's market if "a polished title like Chicken Wiggle can't find a home one the 3DS."

Chicken Wiggle will go on a flash sale soon on Sept. 14 where it'll drop to $9.99 in the Nintendo 3DS eShop.

[via Destructoid]

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