Nintendo Has Time to Switch Things Up
The numbers are in, and for those of you who like to keep up on Nintendo’s state of affairs, here’s what they have to say. In their most recent sales mock-up, the second quarter, the big N sold off 3.19 million Nintendo Switch units. This pushes lifetime console sales past 22 million units.
Nintendo’s 2nd quarter earnings began in April and ended on September 30th, 2018. During that period, we saw the release of heavy hitters like Mario Tennis Aces and Donkey Kong: Tropical Freeze. The games sold 2.16 million units and 1.67 million units respectively. Though they were top sellers for the Switch, neither ended up anywhere near the total sales of Super Mario Odyssey (12.17m) or Zelda: Breath of the Wild (10.28m). Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (11.71m) and Splatoon 2 (7.47m), too, greatly boosted switch sales in 2017. Which goes to show, the Switch hasn’t broken the same ground it did this time last year. That said, its first six months of 2018 saw a 4% revenue increase over last year, with a total of 5.07 million units sold.
At the same time, we cannot forget that Nintendo Switch sales in the first six months of 2017 didn’t begin until March. As for why Nintendo seems to have lost momentum in the software department, we really haven’t seen the caliber of last year’s games this year. That may change during the holidays, when we see the arrival of Pokemon Let’s GO and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. As of September, the company can boast 111 million software units sold. There’s still a chance that number will increase substantially before the year’s end. What are your thoughts?
For some perspective, it’s worth noting that the PlayStation 4 recently hit 86.1 million sold units in its five-year lifespan. Microsoft numbers remain ambiguous, but the last sales figure was recorded around the 40-million mark. Do you think the Nintendo Switch will see an upsurge in sales later this year? Comment down below.
SOURCE: Gamesindustry.biz