Rive's Wii U version may get canned in favour of NX
"We won't release Rive unless it's a solid 60FPS."
Toki Tori 2 developer Two Tribes is releasing its final game, Rive, this September on PS4 and Xbox One, but the future of its Wii U version is looking uncertain.
Two Tribes co-founder Collin van Ginkel explained to NintendoLife that the developer is struggling to get its 2.5D platforming shooter running at a solid 60fps on Wii U, so it may just wait until NX is out to bring the studio's swan song to Nintendo players.
"The Nindies demo in 2015 was specifically optimised to perform well in hand-picked levels and didn't manage 60FPS consistently," van Ginkel said. "We've added a lot of stuff since then and we haven't been able to reach the performance level required yet. We won't release Rive unless it's a solid 60FPS, and if that means delaying it to a future platform, we will make that call and make sure Nintendo fans get the perfect experience."
Van Ginkel also explained the potential switch as a business move to attract an allegedly greater userbase, should the NX succeed the Wii U in the long run. "Nintendo is exiting the Wii U market early in favour of the NX which means a long tail in sales is not looking likely," van Ginkel said. "Do you release a game on a platform in its last days or on a new one that's better suited and can reach gamers for years to come?"
"We've made games for Nintendo platforms since 2001 and we'd hate for Rive not to be in Nintendo gamers' hands in some way. It pains us to have to bring this news, but we just can't release a game that's not perfectly playable. We've seen other shoot 'em ups deliver less than stellar framerates recently and it just kills the experience completely."
For more on Rive, we interviewed Two Tribes about its missteps leading to Toki Tori 2's dismal sales.
