Sega made Super Monkey Ball Banana Rumble Switch-exclusive because it’s been the best-selling platform for past titles, producer says 

Sega recently released Super Monkey Ball: Banana Rumble, the latest entry in their long-running monkey-themed platformer series. For the first time in the series’ history, Banana Rumble launched exclusively on the Nintendo Switch. While technical factors also contributed to this decision, it seems that the Switch has been the most demanded platform for the series so far. Banana Rumble’s producer Nobuhiro Suzuki recently commented on the topic in an interview with Famitsu.  

The Super Monkey Ball series has quietly sold over 5 million units to date, and sales come predominantly from outside of Japan, particularly North America – which has become the series’ “main battlefield” as Suzuki puts it. The series’ previous entry, Super Monkey Ball Banana Mania, reflects this tendency, as the majority of players were from North America. 

However, Banana Mania had a multi-platform release, while Banana Rumble unexpectedly went down the exclusive path. This was due to the latest title featuring online battles that allow up to 16 players to compete online across 5 different game modes. “By narrowing down to one platform, we were able to make thorough adjustments and improve (the online battle system) to a level that would be enjoyable for players .”  

As for why the hardware of choice ended up being the Nintendo Switch, Suzuki says,  
“The reason we chose the Switch over other hardware is simple – among customers who purchased previous games, the Switch was the most often used platform”. In addition, the producer comments that the team may consider porting the game to other platforms if players show enough interest. 

Super Monkey Ball Banana Rumble is available for the Nintendo Switch.