TIGA Calls on Nintendo to Explain its Position on Publishing Games Data

TIGA, the trade association representing the UK games industry, today called on Nintendo to explain why it does not allow developers to publish the sales numbers of their self-published titles. TIGA made the comments following the news that Nintendo had refused to allow Icon Games Ltd to publish figures on the sales and free units downloaded for their WiiWare games.

Dr Richard Wilson, TIGA CEO, said:

"TIGA’s vision is to make the UK the best place in the world to do games business. To achieve this we must enable indie developers and digital publishers to set up and grow strong, sustainable, and independent businesses. If indie developers are to build effective businesses then they need to be able to share sales and downloaded games data with a variety of third parties. This is necessary to facilitate business and financial planning, ease access to finance and aid recruitment.

"Many UK developers would like to understand why Nintendo will not allow independent developers to disclose information about their self-published games on WiiWare. Nintendo should issue a public response to the points raised by Icono Games in order to clarify their position.”
Richard Hill-Whittall, Director of Icon Games Entertainment Ltd, said:
"Icon Games simply want to report on the games that they have self-published on WiiWare. Nintendo’s policy makes life as difficult as possible for small studios. Global publishers need to understand that developers want to run their businesses in a professional manner. I welcome TIGA’s championing of the interests of indie developers.”