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The story
Game developer Yuke’s has become a hot topic on 5ch after signaling plans to push forward with Nintendo Switch 2 ports for titles from its subsidiary Aquaplus. In the thread, posters pointed out how Aquaplus ramped up its Switch releases following a change in company presidents, with several citing the specific point when the series shifted from PS-centric releases to simultaneous Switch launches. Meanwhile, others questioned the value of porting to Switch 2 at all, pointing to data showing third-party software sales on the platform trailing those on PS5, which sparked further debate.
What people said
They licensed it early on when the series was just taking off, but both the Dreamcast and PS2 versions flopped hard — that's probably left a scar.
Aquaplus is a Yuke's subsidiary now, so they can't just do whatever they want anymore.
Well, honestly, a deep-pocketed company bought them out more than 10 years ago, and they've been passed around between owners every few years since. As for Aquaplus today…
Honestly, things changed the moment second-generation president Naoya lost his authority as representative. Pretty easy company to read.
PlayStation has no future left anyway. From here on, it's about releasing on Switch 2 to bring in new players.
Falcom: 'We were saved because we'd already shifted to Switch. If we'd moved later, we'd have gone into the red.'
Get it through your head — it's not selling on that 'trash station' (derisive nickname for PlayStation), so now they're crawling to Switch 2 for help.
Re: #23
Sounds like it even got turned down on Steam, so that's probably a no-go.
This is just standard multi-platform releasing — nothing new.
Though it only lists two destinations for the ports: Switch 2 and Steam.
Back in the 'Tora' days I think they did whatever they wanted — they never released on Nintendo hardware at all. It's only quite recently that they finally started putting games out there. (「とら」likely refers to one of the studio's older titles)
Utawarerumono Zan 2, released in December 2021, was a PS4/PS5 cross-gen release. Then the president got demoted in February 2022, and starting with Gitou Tantei Nosuri in December 2022, it became a PS4/Switch multi-release. From that point on, they started launching on Switch from day one too.
Honestly, it was so easy to read. Naoya kept insisting it had nothing to do with him, but it's obvious.
Probably because, unlike the Nintendo diehards (mockingly called 'Nishi-kun'), they're not running on blind faith.
With an install base at the level the original Switch had, third parties can just barely survive in that market. But something like Switch 2, which has already stalled out hard and has no room left to grow? That's hell.
There's nothing wrong with them continuing to release software on Switch, though.
Well, normal people don't hook up multiple consoles to their TV.
Wait, don't Nintendo fanboys not even own a TV? Stick to the script here.
They were originally a PC-focused adult-game (eroge) company to begin with — how did they end up being seen as a PlayStation company? lol
Examples of 'ditching Nintendo' (脱任):
Level-5 in general
Monster Hunter Rise (the lighter sub-series), Ace Attorney, Mega Man Battle Network, Monster Hunter Stories
Dragon Quest Monsters, Octopath Traveler
Demon Slayer games
Story of Seasons, Rune Factory (Steam)
Examples of 'ditching PlayStation' (脱P):
Persona 6
Monster Hunter Wilds & Ascendance
Kingdom Hearts 4
Resident Evil series
Final Fantasy series
Yakuza/Like a Dragon series
Re: #50
They're all multi-platform, though.
Re: #50 is also all multi-platform — funny how they're spinning it as if only Switch 2 got added as a multi-platform release. lol
Same-day launches — Onimusha, Resident Evil RE9:
PS5: 76,530 / 155,373 units
Switch 2: 19,499 / 38,793 units
Later ports — Elden Ring, FF7 Remake, FF7 Rebirth:
PS5: 90,017 / 702,853 (PS4) / 262,656 units
Switch 2: 27,604 / 23,428 / 30,657 units
PS5's late-release numbers are either 'uncountable' or stuck in the low four digits — what a trash console.
Huh? They're all multi-platform releases.
Something that's already multi-platform doesn't count as 'ditching PlayStation.'
Exactly — it's just standard multi-platform releasing, so anyone calling it 'ditching PlayStation' or 'ditching Nintendo' is basically an idiot.
But even multi-platform releases get called 'ditching Nintendo':
【Ultimate bad news for the 'pigs' (mocking slang for Nintendo fans)】The pigs' last hope, Vampire Survivors, ditches Nintendo lolololol
https://krsw.5ch.net/test/read.cgi/ghard/1712802675/
So I guess it becomes 'quit-P' in the sense of dropping the PS-first priority?
Because the PS5 is dead here.
Background and Key Points of This Discussion
Yuke’s is a development studio best known for fighting and sports games, and according to thread posts, Aquaplus reportedly came under its umbrella in recent years. It’s worth noting that the timing of the presidential change and the shifts in title release strategy are all based on anonymous posters’ recollections, not primary sources backing an official announcement. The debate split largely into two points. One was whether Aquaplus’s shift from PS-heavy releases to a Switch-focused approach should be called ‘de-PlayStation-ing,’ with pushback against applying that label to titles that were already multi-platform. The other was whether Switch 2 is actually a promising market for third-party software — the sales figures cited in the thread were limited comparisons across titles with different release timing and characteristics, and readers should keep in mind that they’re not sufficient grounds for directly comparing sales strength between platforms.
*This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Hardware/Industry (Geha)) thread “Yuke’s: ‘We will push forward with porting Aquaplus titles to Switch 2’.”
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