Furukawa Talks About Cloud Gaming Technologies

Nintendo president, Shuntaro Furukawa, recently held a meeting for the briefing second quarter of the fiscal year that ends on March 2019, a session of Q&A was placed in order.

Furukawa was asked from the future of cross-play ability on Nintendo titles like Mario and Zelda, what’s next for the Nintendo Labo accessories. Furukawa even went to share some insight about what is the company’s goals at smartphone’s titles like Super Mario Run, and the upcoming Mario Kart Tour.

Shuntaro Furukawa seems to be fond to the idea of implementing cloud based technologies as a way to expand its user base, by releasing games that are most likely impossible to release on Nintendo Switch.

“Q10: What has been the response from users to Fortnite Battle Royale and other cloud-based games offered by other software publishers for Nintendo Switch? Also, do you expect this will have any implication on business in the future?

Furukawa: Epic Games released the Nintendo Switch version of Fortnite Battle Royale at the time E3 was held this past June, and it has gained so much momentum that it been downloaded onto nearly half of all Nintendo Switch systems sold to consumers worldwide to date. By region, the greatest number of downloads has been in the US, but the game is also growing in Japan. There is no question that Fortnite Battle Royale has contributed to the increase in our digital sales, but it is also significant in that users continue playing it, meaning that it boosts the utilization ratio of the hardware.

Generally, I think having the Nintendo Switch software lineup augmented by titles from publishers who make use of cloud gaming technologies is a very positive thing. And it is really meaningful in terms of expanding our user base, because there are some titles that probably could not be offered on Nintendo Switch any other way.

Q13: A lot of people seem to feel like there are major titles from other publishers that are missing on Nintendo Switch. Are you currently doing anything to address that? Also, do you think the situation will change in the next fiscal year or later?

Furukawa: We believe that giving consumers a wide selection of software is an extremely important part of operating our platforms. That is why we welcome the introduction of a variety of titles from many different software publishers. Even so, I do not think it is realistic to expect that every major title will become available on Nintendo Switch. We are speaking with publishers about them actively putting titles on Nintendo Switch that would be an especially good fit for its unique features as a home console system you can carry around, including handheld mode and the ability to bring systems together for local multiplayer. Given the strong publisher support Nintendo Switch has, I would expect the number of titles on it will increase a lot more. That is what really keeps the Nintendo Switch business on the right track.”

Read the full Q&A at – Nintendo.