Nintendo Hits Milestone as Download Sales Exceed Packaged Goods, eShop Improvements Incoming

Nintendo is gradually getting the hang of the digital marketplace. In a Nindies panel at GDC 2018, the company talked about how its digital sales of its third-party games for the Switch and the Nintendo 3DS are exceeding sales of its traditional "boxed" games in the US. It also went over its plans to (finally) improve navigation of the eShop.

Nintendo outlined the Switch's success with downloadable third-party games before talking about how it plans to improve and upgrade the eShop's UI for "better discoverability" in the face of over-crowding. Currently, navigating the Switch's eShop is tedious, and discovering cool, quirky games you might want to take a chance on can be difficult. It's good to see Nintendo finally wants to take the eShop and digital distribution more seriously, especially in light of the Switch's determination to be a showcase for independent game publishers.

Let's have a hand for Nintendo's big digital winners.

The Nindies panel also offered a shout-out to some of the most successful independent titles on the Switch, including the hugely popular Stardew Valley, Celeste, Golf Story, and Steamworld Dig 2.

[With reporting from Kat Bailey]

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#1 Breadbitten A month ago

I really hope this means they're fixing the severe lag when navigating the eShop.

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#2 LunarFlame17 A month ago

@Breadbitten Severe lag? I’ve never noticed lag on the Switch eshop.

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#3 sketchlayerjosh A month ago

@LunarFlame17 Gotta back up@Breadbitten here. When I use the eShop it's about a half-second's worth of delay after I press a button while browsing. It's not a *lot,* but it adds up really quickly. And the lack of any real browsing controls or categories means that using that store is a slog.

#4 docexe A month ago

The store definitely needs an overhaul. I'm actually surprised they haven't done it yet.

The news channel serves as a palliative for the issue of discoverability but the whole thing is far from ideal.

#5 MarioIV A month ago

Excellent reporting, Kat Bailey.

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#6 johnalbert 27 days ago

spotting this sturdy trend, Nintendo has stated that Do My Homework For Money it will likely be making improvements to the eShop so as to allow for “higher discoverability”. that is wonderful information! Navigating the switch eShop is o.k., but it would certainly be loads better with the developing wide variety of games being separated into proper classes. whilst you’re at it Nintendo, can you furthermore may shunt all of the shovelware games off into their very own little dark nook? Or just forestall allowing them to be released at the device in any respect? That’d be sweet.