As its aging Switch device draws players in, Nintendo (7974.T) increased its operating profit prediction on Tuesday for the fiscal year ending in March by 11% to 500 billion yen ($3.32 billion).
The Kyoto-based game company has continued to add to its popular character roster through software releases and minor hardware modifications, extending the longevity of the hybrid home/portable device, which is currently in its seventh year on the market.
Unlike the 6.68 million Switch devices it sold during the same period last year, Nintendo sold 6.84 million units during the first half of the current fiscal year.
This year, two highly regarded games were released: “Super Mario Bros. Wonder” in October and “The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom,” which went on sale in May.
Another example of Nintendo’s widespread appeal in popular culture is the success of a Super Mario Bros. film. Nintendo kept its 15 million unit annual projection for the system, representing a 16.5% decrease from the previous year.
Nintendo President Shuntaro Furukawa told reporters that the goal is sensible rather than aggressive or conservative. The industry has seen a notable surge in the release of new games this year following the pandemic’s broad production disruption.
As of September’s end, Nintendo said 19.5 million copies of “Tears of the Kingdom” had been sold. The business increased its software projection for the entire year by almost 3% to 185 million units.
Nintendo’s lineup for the crucial holiday shopping season will probably get a few more new games with the release of “Super Mario RPG” on November 17.
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