Nintendo Switch debuts in China

Tencent is launching the Chinese version of the Nintendo Switch on December 10. The Chinese Switch will be priced at 2,099 yuan (around $300) and will come with a copy of New Super Mario Bros U Deluxe, the only game for Switch so far to have received official license.

Image Credit: Daniel Ahmad’s Twitter

Games will be priced at roughly $42 which is standard in the region.

Technically, Nintendo Switch has been unofficially available in China on the grey market since 2017. Its official version has been modified to be compatible with Tencent cloud service and its WeChat Pay payment system.

As Niko Partners analyst Daniel Ahmad shared on his Twitter, at least 18 titles from overseas developers are being currently localized so that they can then be submitted for approval. These include Just Dance, Hollow Knight, Mario + Rabbids, Octopath Traveler, Tools Up, Mario & Sonic at the Toyko 2020 Olympic Games, Daemon X Machina and Rabbids Party, which is an exclusive  from Ubisoft.

Companies like Konami, Sega, Square Enix, Next Studios are now working on the official versions of their existing titles to localize them for the Chinese market.

A number of Chinse indie developers are already expecting approval for their games.

According to Nintendo CEO Shuntaro Furukawa, the company does not expect the console’s rollout in China to significantly impact Nintendo’s financial year, which ends 31 March 2020.

The Switch Light has not been confirmed for China, but the it’s likely to launch in the region sometime next year.

It will be interesting to see how the console performs in a market largely defined by smartphone gaming.