You may not be aware of it, but the Australian-themed Animal Crossing and Stardew Valley-inspired title, Dinkum, was one of the breakout Steam games of 2022. The game sold over 350,000 within a month, and the title has gone from strength to strength since, racking up a total of over 1.4m sales since its 14th July early access launch in 2022.
What’s the story behind the game’s success? There was a late marketing push for the title just before it hit Steam – aided along by IGN’s Summer of Games show in the same year – and some YouTubers that focus on cozy life-sim games helped nudge the audience higher, too.
Solo developer, James Bendon, is now keen to push his growing audience even further by releasing the game on Nintendo Switch (and playable on Switch 2). Whilst the initial development efforts on PC were all handled by Bendon, publisher Krafton has supported with the Switch ports, with members of the team at studio 5minlab coming in to help with porting the title to the handheld machine.
“As a massive Nintendo fan, having my own game on a Nintendo console has been a lifelong dream for me,” Bendon says in a press release. “I feel that Dinkum is a good fit for Nintendo Switch players, and it’s been the most requested console from players who have been waiting a long time to play Dinkum. I am certain that launching on the Switch will bring a lot of new players to Dinkum.”
Per a release from Bendon and Krafton, the Nintendo Switch version has been optimised for handheld play (with adjustments made to control schemes, and UI/UX), and all major content will be available across both platforms. There is a small exclusive in-game Battlegrounds costume players will be able to nab on Switch, but it’s just a cosmetic.
We’re used to seeing a lot of life sims and farming games during Nintendo Direct showcases, but with this one, it at least seems like there’s an in-built audience that’s been waiting for a while to see Dinkum escape the exclusive realms of the PC. And as we’re seeing ConcernedApe slow down development on Stardew Valley (well, in theory, at least), Bendon hints that Dinkum could live a lot longer.
“I think Dinkum is the kind of game that I could update forever, so I think as long as there are players who love Dinkum, I think they will inspire me to continue working on updates,” he says. “I am hopeful that offering Dinkum on the Nintendo Switch (and hopefully many other platforms in the future) will only bring more passionate players to Dinkum, and their passion for the game will continue to fuel my inspiration.”
Dinkum comes to Nintendo Switch, and will be playable on Switch 2, on 6th November.
