Nintendo earnings take a hit - lack of new games blamed for downturn

Nintendo recently held its third-quarter financial results briefing, revealing lower than expected sales of both consoles and games.

This has led to them issuing a downward revision of their full-year earnings forecast and addressing questions about the highly anticipated Nintendo Switch 2.

Nintendo are one of Japan’s most successful video games companies.

President Shuntaro Furukawa cited lower-than-expected Nintendo Switch hardware and software sales during the year-end season as the primary reason for the revision.

The company now projects sales of 1.5 million fewer Switch hardware units and 10 million fewer software units than previously estimated.

Nintendo has sold fewer Switch consoles than expected.

Despite strong sales of new titles like “Super Mario Party Jamboree” and bundled hardware/software packages, overall sales fell short of initial targets.

Sales of Super Mario Party Jamboree were strong but they did not help Nintendo meet overall targets.

Furukawa acknowledged the age of the Switch, which is now in its eighth year, as a contributing factor.

While acknowledging some impact from anticipation for the Switch 2, he emphasized that many consumers still purchased new Switch consoles, both as replacements and additional units.

Anticipation is high for the new Nintendo Switch 2 console.

He also noted that the Switch 2 will be backward compatible with existing Switch software, mitigating concerns about purchase hesitancy.

The Switch 2 will be backwards compatible with the majority of Switch games.

The software sales forecast revision, he explained, stemmed from the inability to create a single new title that generated widespread momentum, unlike previous successes such as “The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom” which was released in 2023.

One of Nintendo’s most recent successes was The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom.

Looking ahead, Nintendo is gearing up for the 2025 launch of the Nintendo Switch 2, having recently made an announcement as to when fans can next expect to receive an update.