Nintendo: No minimum sales needed for eShop revenues

Nintendo has reminded developers that there is no minimum sales requirement before eShop developers receive their revenues.

Previously, the platform holder courted controversy with a WiiWare clause that stated developers would not receive money from their sales until they reached a set number of downloads – something that proved to be unrealistic for some studios.

The platform holder’s Ed Valiente, speaking at the Italian Game Developers Summit today, offered insight and advise on how devs can release titles on the eShop marketplace for Wii U and 3DS.

When asked if developers need to reach a certain number of sales before they get paid, Valiente said: “No. That used to be the case with WiiWare and we did that with noble reasons in the beginning – that if you really thought your game was worth it, it would sell but that’s not always true.

“So we have no minimum threshold. You earn from the first sale you make.”

When asked if Nintendo enforces certain price tiers on developers, he answered: “We let developers set the price and release date. So no, there are no thresholds, no limited price – although people still ask us what we think they should sell their game for.

“My answer is: go on to the eShop, see what other games are selling for, see where your game fits in and set your price accordingly. My one advice would be don’t go too low at the beginning. Because if you go too low at the beginning, you don’t have any room to manoeuvre.

“Games should be worth something. Out of all the games I play on smart devices, I prefer ones I can pay for – and sometimes I wish I could pay more than 99 cents.”