Wedbush Securities analyst Michael Pachter believes that Nintendo’s ability to sell incredible amounts of their first-party games helps them achieve attach rates that Sony will never match.
Attach rates express the number of system owners that also own another item for the same system, such as a game or accessory. For example, more than half of all Wii U owners also owned Mario Kari Wii, which sold more than 8 million copies.
Pachter points to Sony’s large selection of third-party games compared to the Switch, which means that PlayStation 4 owners face more choices that can potentially steer them away from purchasing first-party games.
“I think one of the things that Nintendo has going for its first party titles is that they don’t have as many third party games,” he said. “So if you can’t play Call of Duty, Battlefield, or GTA on a Switch, you know, you are a bit more limited in your choice of great games. So of course you buy the Nintendo first party titles.”
“That’s different for a PS4 owner, they have a choice of every game made except a Nintendo game on their console, and so God of War has to compete against everything else,” he continued. “So it’s harder for those to stand out as much, it’s a perverse logic, where Nintendo’s lack of third party support ends up being a strength for its first party.”
“But, you know, this is Nintendo’s model, Nintendo, launching the Switch in 2017, coming after the launches of the PS4 and Xbox One in 2013, did not have any pretensions that everyone will throw away their old PS4 for their console,” Pachter said. “I think they want the Switch as a second console for most people, so you get your Call of Duty fix on Xbox or PS4, and you get your Nintendo fix on Switch. So it’s not a straight comparison, because Nintendo first party titles don’t sell like the norm… like Zelda probably has an 80% or higher attach rate. It’s going to be the odd person with a Switch who won’t buy Zelda. There’s no way any Sony game will compare.”