Nintendo not accepting Japanese applications for Wii U indie development
Nintendo made sure to highlight the Wii U's friendliness to independent developers right out the gate. There were indie games on the Wii U eShop at launch last year and the platform continues to play host to great indies like Runner 2 and Toki Tori 2. Nintendo's independent outreach, however, doesn't extend worldwide, Kotaku reports.
According to a GDC questionnaire that recently began circulating, the Japanese company isn't accepting Wii U game pitches from independent Japanese developers. The policy has since been confirmed by CVG.
Nintendo didn't provide its reason for excluding Japanese developers, stating only that "[t]he policy in question is the decision of Nintendo's department responsible for licensing activities in each region, and the licensing department of Nintendo is currently not accepting subject applications from individuals in Japan."
Nintendo not accepting applications from its home country is strange, especially given the recent push from console makers to create more open publishing models. Sony's PS4 will allow for self-publishing, and Microsoft has just announced that the Xbox One will support it as well.
