We all know that in the year of our lord 2025, the Switch eShop has its fair share of problems. It’s slow, it’s clunky and it’s flooded with games that we’d really rather not have to wade through, but what’s it like from the other side? How does the storefront hold up if you’re the one trying to sell games on it?
That was a question recently asked by IGN in a new feature that put Nintendo’s storefront (and Sony’s, Microsoft’s and Valve’s) under the microscope. Unsurprisingly, the devs are just as tired of it as we all are.
Talking about the rise of scam games on the eShop in particular, one anonymous developer told the outlet that “Nintendo is probably the easiest to scam”, claiming that anything is possible once a studio has got one game approved. “Once I’m in the door,” the dev continued, “I could make ‘Fart Fart Boobie Fart: The Game’ and maybe it would eventually get taken down, but it’s so odd”.
This practice stems from how easy it is to get a game page up that blatantly doesn’t match the description, the devs told IGN, with platform holders trusting the developer rather than always checking in advance: “In other words, developers get to ask for forgiveness instead of permission, basically.”
What’s more, the punishments for being caught advertising a game that clearly doesn’t match the description can often amount to little more than “a tap on the wrist”, IGN reports.
Yet those interviewed also claimed that Nintendo in particular can fall the other way, rejecting games and giving little to no reason for its decision. It’s rough getting games accepted and rougher still getting them removed, it seems.
While both Sony and Valve are guilty of many of the issues listed above, one developer told IGN that Nintendo’s history with its storefronts doesn’t bode well for the future. “It’s logic-defying how their stores are so bad,” the dev told the outlet, “They could check anyone else’s store and see what to do…I am optimistic it will be 10% better than the Switch store”.
It paints a pretty bleak picture, but one that’s not particularly surprising. Last year, we interviewed a handful of developers and publishers on the same issue, trying to find out what hope there is for Switch 2 improvements from those in the industry. You’ll find the full feature embedded at the bottom of this post, but most of the answers provided to us echo the above sentiments, with one dev telling us that the storefront is “feast or famine” for those trying to sell on it.
The IGN feature also mentions that eShop alternatives are already popping up, specifically citing our very own ‘Better eShop’ that we launched earlier this year. We are still working on this new feature, specifically looking into how the filters might evolve to better categorise games and show you lovely lot all of the top-notch options you’re after. We have plans to keep the tool evolving in the future, so watch this space!