If you didn’t have a chance to pick apart our full coverage of Nintendo Direct, you should take the time because it was pretty amazing. But there is one small announcement worth a second look. Get ready to head back to the Underground: Undertale is officially coming to the Nintendo Switch.
If you were somehow one of the few people who didn’t hear about Undertale, here’s the basics: it was an indie RPG designed by Toby Fox. The player takes control of a human who has fallen into an underground world of monsters, some friendly, some not so much. The goal is to make your way out.
The simple enough premise was launched into viral fame with its brilliant execution. Undertale was a shining example of creative indie development, with a beautiful story and well-crafted characters that truly got fans to care. Along with a system of choices and actions that could affect the game itself, Fox created a truly special experience for players.
That experience is now making its way to the Nintendo Switch. There isn’t an official release date yet, but fans can begin to get excited to try things on a new platform (and see how the game adapts to the Switch controls).
This move is actually notable for another reason: GameMaker Studio 2. This is the engine that powers Undertale, but it has been around since 1999, and has been behind a lot of major 2D independent titles since then. YoYo Games, the designer of the engine has just recently come to an agreement with Nintendo to allow users to port their games directly to the Switch.
This is a big win for independent developers. The ability to create games for more and more platforms will only help in the distribution of smaller indie titles without huge publishing companies behind them. It will also allow more fantastically creative games like Undertale to get the praise that they so deserve.