Switch sales of Velocity 2X are the last hope for a sequel to see release

The upcoming Switch release of Velocity 2X could be the key to getting a sequel, developer FutureLab has revealed.

Velocity 2X has seen universal praise from gamers and critics alike, garnering all kinds of attention along the way. The thing is, there were some big sacrifices made to reach a large audience. Velocity 2X originally launched for free on Playstation Plus for PS4/Vita. The game reached millions of players, and was very well received. There's one thing worth mentioning though.
Getting people to download/try a game for free doesn't impress publishers.

When FutureLab started to shop around plans for a sequel, every publisher they took it too really enjoyed the game, but won't pick it up for publishing. This is because the actual sales numbers for the first game are either bad, or non-existent. Sales on PS4/Vita are a moot point, as the huge bulk of downloads came from the free PS Plus version. Steam sales ended up being abysmal, due to launching alongside Windows 10 and a game-breaking bug. Furthermore, FutureLab says their retail publishing deal for the first game on PS4/Vita with Badland turned out to be a 'disaster.'

Now you can see why publishers aren't eager/willing to pick up the sequel. This leads us to the Switch port, which is launching in the near future. If that version sells well, it could pave the way for another publisher to come on-board and get the sequel out the door. For those wondering, the sequel (Velocity Supernova) has been in the works for years, so finding a publisher really is the final piece of the puzzle.

I guess we'll see what happens with Velocity 2X on Switch. Other devs have had great success with their indie titles on the Switch eShop, and Velocity 2X could certainly see the same results. Now we know that its potential success could make or break plans for the developer.