Nintendo’s president Shuntaro Furukawa has stated that the company’s classic first-party games are one of the major reasons why the Nintendo Switch has been so successful. He stated this during a conference call regarding Nintendo’s latest financial report. Games like Animal Crossing: New Horizons, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Pokemon Sword and Shield, Breath of the Wild, and more have made the Nintendo Switch into the console it is today, according to Furukawa.
Question 5: Are there any changes in how Nintendo Switch software is selling due to the diversification of the consumer base? Looking at the balance of software sales in this fiscal year, it looks like the ratio of sales for evergreen titles has increased in comparison to new titles, and it feels as if the way software sells has changed, compared to when Nintendo Switch launched. Please also tell me about your initiatives for encouraging new hardware purchasers to continue to buy software.
Answer 5 Furukawa: Compared to a typical year, unit software sales this fiscal year have included a larger contribution from titles released in previous fiscal years, and this is reflected in the list of million-seller titles. Looking at total sell-through of first-party titles in the major regions for April through December last year, you can see that titles that were released in the previous fiscal year or earlier accounted for approximately 80% when you include Animal Crossing: New Horizons, and around 60% when you exclude that one title. In short, titles released in previous fiscal years contributed greatly to our business, both for this overall fiscal year and for the holiday season. In addition, many consumers who purchased hardware to play Animal Crossing: New Horizons have continued to purchase other software. Looking at the global numbers, they often purchase evergreen titles like Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, and Super Mario Party. In addition, Mario-related titles sold very well during the holiday season, as a result of the Super Mario Bros. 35th Anniversary campaign that began in September. In Japan, consumers also chose titles like Pikmin 3 Deluxe and KONAMI’s Momotaro Dentetsu: Showa, Heisei, Reiwa Mo Teiban. On the other hand, there are also consumers who continue to exclusively play Animal Crossing: New Horizons, and they are enjoying communicating with their friends and playing the regularly held in-game events. In this manner, what a consumer plays next can differ depending on when and why they Nine-Month Financial Results Briefing for Fiscal Year Ending Mar. 2021 purchase their Nintendo Switch, so for the next fiscal year we will focus on encouraging more consumers to pick up already released titles in addition to providing new titles.
Nintendo will continue to encourage Switch owners to pick up older, evergreen titles for the system. That, combined with the iconic games that are yet to come, is an incredibly good strategy. We already see from sales charts that older Nintendo Switch games are still selling very strong. Nintendo games have a global appeal, and that is the reason they are the best first-party developer in the gaming industry.