Nintendo’s home console-portable hybrid Switch continues to sell extremely well as the launch of the Xbox Series X and Series S and PlayStation 5 quickly approaches.
According to the tech giant’s latest earnings report, 6.68 million Switch consoles shipped between July and September, amounting to a 40 percent year-over-year increase and a total of 68.3 million units sold since its launch in 2016. For context, last quarter, Nintendo shipped 5.68 million Switch consoles.
This number is especially impressive considering this quarter last year was when Nintendo released the Switch Lite, increasing its console shipments by more than 50 percent back in 2018. The company expects to sell a total of 24 million Switch consoles this fiscal year, an increase from its initial prediction of 19 million.
On the software side of things, Animal Crossing: New Horizons sold 3.5 million units this past quarter. Last quarter the game sold 10 million units. In total, New Horizons has sold 26.04 million copies, making it the second best-selling Switch game behind Mario Kart 8 Deluxe.
Nintendo’s release schedule over the past quarter has been relatively sparse with Super Mario 3D All-Stars, a collection that includes Super Mario 64, Super Mario Sunshine and Super Mario Galaxy, selling 5.21 million copies by the end of September. Paper Mario: The Origami King also sold 2.82 million units this quarter.
In total, Nintendo says it now expects to make 450 billion yen (about $5.6 billion CAD) in profit by the end of March 2021. This is a 50 percent increase from the 300 billion yen (roughly $3.7 billion CAD) it predicted last May. So far, the company has earned 291.4 billion yen ($3.6 billion CAD) in profit during the first six months of the year.
Moving into the holiday season, Nintendo’s most significant upcoming game release is Breath of the Wild prequel and Hyrule Warriors sequel, Age of Calamity. The tech giant also recently released Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit, an augmented reality take on the Mario Kart series.
Some reports indicate Nintendo has plans to release an upgraded Switch console in 2021.
Source: Nintendo
