November 5th 2024.
Is it possible for the Switch to become the top-selling console of all time by next year? According to the latest financial update from Nintendo, it seems like the company is silently preparing for the launch of the Switch 2 in the near future.
The Nintendo Switch has been on the market for almost eight years now, and it's no surprise that its sales have declined since its peak in 2017. In fact, during their financial results in August, Nintendo had set a goal to sell 13.5 million consoles by the end of the 2025 fiscal year (which ends on March 31, 2025).
However, it seems that this goal was a bit too optimistic, as sales have dropped by a larger-than-expected 31%. As a result, Nintendo has had to revise their sales forecast, lowering it by 1 million to 12.5 million for the fiscal year. This also means that their expected profits have been reduced from 400 billion yen to 360 billion yen.
These figures were revealed in Nintendo's latest financial results for the second quarter of the fiscal year. The company has acknowledged that both hardware and software sales have decreased compared to last year, with hardware sales dropping by 31% and software sales by 27.6%.
But don't let these numbers fool you - it doesn't mean that their 2024 line-up has been performing poorly. In fact, The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom, which was released at the end of September, has already sold 2.58 million copies, making it the best-selling game of the quarter. And Mario Kart 8 Deluxe continues to bring in sales, with 2.31 million units sold.
Fans are also delighted to see the success of the Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door remake, which has sold 1.94 million units, surpassing the lifetime sales of the original GameCube version. Even the remaster of Luigi's Mansion 2 HD has done well, with 1.57 million units sold, making it the company's fourth best-selling game of the quarter, despite being a remaster of an 11-year-old 3DS game.
But the question on everyone's mind is: how many Nintendo Switch consoles have been sold? As of the first half of 2024, Nintendo has sold 4.21 million units, bringing the total lifetime sales up to 146.04 million.
And if they do meet their revised goal of 12.5 million hardware sales by March, the total sales would reach 158.54 million, surpassing both the Nintendo DS and PlayStation 2 and solidifying the Switch as the best-selling console of all time.
However, analyst Dr. Serkan Toto believes that Nintendo's revised forecast is still too optimistic, pointing out that the company is most likely holding back their big releases for the Switch 2. And he's not wrong - as of now, Nintendo only has two more remasters planned for 2025: Donkey Kong Country Returns and Xenoblade Chronicles X. But there are rumors of even more remasters, including some from third-party publishers, which may be part of Nintendo's strategy to keep the Switch relevant until the launch of the Switch 2.
The year 2025 will also see the release of highly-anticipated titles such as Metroid Prime 4: Beyond and Pokémon Legends Z-A. While it's widely believed that these games will be released for the Switch 2, there are also speculations that they may be cross-gen titles for the current Switch as well. But with Nintendo, it's hard to make assumptions.
So, are you excited for the potential launch of the Switch 2? Let us know your thoughts by sending us an email, leaving a comment, following us on Twitter, or signing up for our newsletter.
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