Developer Touches On Why the WiiWare Distribution Platform Sucks

It seems that the console business isn’t kind to small indie developers. If Cthulu Saves The World on XBL wasn’t an indication of this fact, then here’s some more evidence for you. In a post-mortem, Richard Hill-Whittall of Icon Entertainment, a Wiiware developer, spoke about the conditions under which Wiiware titles are expected to sell.

He calls the store “horribly inflexible” given that “you can’t change the price point, they don’t run sales or promotions, you can’t update the game once it is on sale unless there is a critical bug found, etc.” Y’know, all the features available to developers in a platform like Steam? All the options available to developers on Steam which have proven to boost sales and keep a happy, engaged audience? “In short WiiWare prohibits you from trying any of the usual approaches you can (use) to kick-start sales.”

Aside from this, the way in which developers get paid is also problematic. Nintendo has a system of thresholds where in order to receive any profit, a developer must sell X number of copies in a two year span first. This means that some developers may release titles on the platform and have to wait more than a year to actually see any profits–even if their title is selling. If it’s not selling, developers can’t do anything to bolster sales because of the aforementioned conditions, as they cannot change price points or run promotions. It’s entirely possible to not hit a threshold and not see any payment despite all the work a developer may have put into the title and despite some sales.

It’s strange that even with digital distribution, a platform that is typically a boon for smaller, lesser known developers, Nintendo still propagates a system where only triple A or first party titles have a legitimate chance to succeed.