Falcom on reason for porting Ys VIII to Switch, future support, and Smash Bros.
After mostly shying away from Nintendo platforms, Falcom had one of its latest games on Switch with Ys VIII. Nippon Ichi was brought in to help port the action RPG.
In an interview with French site ActuGaming, Falcom president Toshihiro Kondo was asked about the reason for releasing Ys VIII on Switch, the possibility of future support, and even potential interest in having Adol in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. We’ve translated those excerpts as follows:
What prompted you to port Ys VIII to Nintendo Switch? Was the handheld aspect of the console a good argument for you? Between 2005 and 2016, most Ys games were on handheld systems.
TK: Just as we thought Switch would be an interesting platform in terms of development, NIS America came to us with the idea of porting Ys VIII on Nintendo Switch. We hadn’t released a game on a Nintendo console in a while, so it was an excellent opportunity. As you implied, the number of games dedicated to handheld systems was decreasing so that was also a desire.
Can we expect other Falcom games to be released on Switch or does that depend on Ys VIII sales?
TK: Of course we’re going to follow how Ys VIII is received. We also want to release many other games and if the conditions are good, there’s a chance it will happen.
If Ys VIII performs well, could you consider making Switch your main console for launching games?
TK: That will depend on the success of Ys VIII. So far, in Japan, we’ve mainly been launching our games on PlayStation systems and things are going well. So, rather than switching, we’d like to have more balance.
We can’t avoid asking this question, with Ys VIII releasing on Switch and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate arriving soon: can we expect Adol to be included in the roster? On a personal level, are you keen on the idea?
TK: Of course it would be an honor to have this opportunity. I would say yes without hesitation.
Kondo also indicated that a new Ys game is in the works that takes place after Ys VIII. However, it’s currently unclear if there are any plans to have the title on Switch.
Thanks to Kyrio for the help with this translation.
