Monday 25 March 2013

Nintendo Highlights Indie Friendly Policy Changes

Nintendo business development manager Dan Adelman, the company’s indie liaison, has outlined several key policy changes Nintendo has quietly made to better benefit indies looking to contribute to Nintendo platforms.

“[I]t's crazy that there are so many developers who don't realize this, but yes, it is not only possible for an indie to get a game onto the eShop service, we've tried to make it as frictionless as possible,” said Adelman in an interview with Gamasutra.

The requirement to have an actual office is no more.

Interested indies must still become licensed Nintendo developers, and they must form a company to do so, but the requirement to have an actual office is no more.

“So that second requirement – the ability to keep confidential materials secure – was originally defined in terms of an office that was separate from the home,” said Adelman. “Back when that rule was created, that seemed to be an appropriate way of defining things.

In 2011 Nintendo made headlines by saying the company had no interest in doing business with garage developers. These days, however, many successful indie teams or individuals work from home.

“I can officially confirm that the office requirement is a thing of the past,” said Adelman.

Adelman also revealed the company has ditched unit thresholds, meaning developers receive revenue from the first game sold, and there have been improvements to the communication channels between indies and Nintendo. Developers do not require international postal addresses to publish in other territories and can control their own pricing.

“Updating games is also fairly straightforward,” said Adelman. “If they find an issue they need to fix, they can.”

Thanks Gamasutra

Luke is Games Editor at IGN AU. You can find him on IGN here or on Twitter @MrLukeReilly, or chat with him and the rest of the Australian team by joining the IGN Australia Facebook community.


Source : ign[dot]com

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