GameMaker Signs Deal With Nintendo, Adds Switch Export Function

GameMaker Studio 2, a popular 2D game engine that powers games like Hyper Light Drifter and VA-11 HALL-A, has signed a deal with Nintendo to bring the engine to Switch in a big way.

After yesterday's announcement of Undertale on Switch, likely the best known game made in the engine, GameMaker creator YoYo Games revealed the partnership with Nintendo. GameMaker has long been a blindspot for Nintendo systems in terms of engine support, its absence being especially notable for the cancellation of Hyper Light Drifter on the Wii U.

As part of Nintendo's indie outreach, the console manufacturer has been working with YoYo on getting the engine running on the Switch, to the point where work can be exported directly to the Switch. In theory, this should open up the system for a lot of indie developers who find it unlikely or impossible to port their games to a new engine just for the Switch.

In the press release from YoYo Games, Toby Fox, creator of Undertale remarked, “I’m excited to use GameMaker Studio 2 to put Undertale on Nintendo Switch. I’m a big fan of Nintendo. I hope Mario plays my game.”

 

Our Take
This should be big for indie developers who have wanted to get in on the Switch's high sales but haven't found it feasible to port to an entirely different engine. These are the kind of moves Nintendo needs to make with indie developers.