Game development tool Cocos Creator is now compatible with the Nintendo Switch. This means Cocos developers can finally build content for a gaming console for the first time in 11 years.
Originally, Cocos Creator was known to develop games only for the web and mobile devices, CEO Zhe Wang said in an article on Cocos’ official website. Since their game development tool has evolved over the years, their company goals have as well, he added.
“We’ve been working very hard on it all of this year and have been working with Nintendo for quite a while to prepare this,” said Cocos in an article in GamesBeat. “We are very happy about their help and glad to have more places for people to build games.”
Cocos Creator is available for free in July. It can be found “in the middleware section of the Nintendo Developers Portal,” the Cocos article says.
Why Cocos Creator Going on the Nintendo Switch is Big News
Cocos is considered one of the best C++ game engines for 2D game development.
It’s open-source and cross-platform, meaning game developers can build games for iOS, Android, and Windows across platforms like mobile phones and browsers. It has also helped build highly acclaimed games, such as Star Traders: Frontiers. Plus, it lets you develop video games with TypeScript and JavaScript, a top language for game development.
However, what it couldn’t officially do was develop gaming content for consoles — at least, not until recently.
Through the official support of Nintendo, Cocos Creator branched out in its capacity for game development. This is big news for the reported 1.4 million Cocos developers today and a huge leap for the China-based company. It could spell greater reach and success for Cocos developers in the near future. While there have been Nintendo Switch games made with Cocos prior to this development, customization work had to be done independently, the article in GamesBeat says.
“Nintendo adds even more places developers can create and share their products across the world,” Cocos Technical Director Huabin Ling said.
Aside from Nintendo, however, the company behind Cocos Creator also “expanded with support for HarmonyOS, TikTok, and WeChat mini games,” said Ling.
In an email to GamesBeat, Niko Partners’ Zeng Xiaofeng noted Microsoft initially supported Coco for its game console Xbox. However, not much transpired in this supposed partnership.
The good news is with this development, Cocos game developers can now showcase their work to a wider audience. Promising opportunities are on the horizon for these creatives.
In Summary
Cocos Creator now supports game development on the Nintendo Switch.
This is great news for the 1.4 million game developers who use this tool. Through Cocos’ cross-platform capabilities, they can deploy games to mobile devices, the web, and the Switch. It could mean greater reach and, therefore, greater success.
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