>>48402207Yes, it was, on paper, an attempt to keep their partners close, in practice it was a not-so-subtle warning
Nintendo really, and I mean REALLY, prides itself on the quality associated with their games, they have absolutely no problem with a product of theirs being considered bland, but a product with their name being considered "bad"? Oh boy
They let their partners have as much free reign as they want, and they are willing to offer help every step on the way on collaborative projects, but they are absolutely legendary hardasses when it comes to final product quality and will not hesitate to let themselves be known as the biggest guy in the room
Sword and Shield sold very well, but its clear that it could have sold so much more, and is generally considered as one of the weakest entries in the entire franchise, Nintendo doesn't take that lightly
Last time a game of theirs was competently made (gameplay wise) but ultimately was considered shit they buried the franchise for years (Metroid and Sakamoto probably got yelled at)
Last time a 3rd party funded exclusive didn't sell well they cut ties with the creator and haven't returned his calls (Devil's 3rd and Itagaki), conversely, when an exclusive game sold badly but was considered pretty good, critically speaking, they immediately funded a 3rd part, no questions asked (Bayonetta 3)
Pokemon fucked every mobile game sideways and all of a sudden, Pokken and PMD got DX rereleases and Snap was brought back to life? You can bet they put their foot down after TPCI failed to capitalize on Pokemania's 2nd coming
GF's next attempt is an entirely new spin? You can be sure they gave them a lindly worded ultimatum, especially because Creatures is basically a Nintendo subsidiary at this point
