Switch Hardware and Software Sales Fall Sharply, Nintendo Revises Guidance

Last quarter, sales of Switch hardware and software fell so sharply that Nintendo had to lower its forecast for the fiscal year. Despite this, more than 150 million Switch consoles have now been shipped.

Nintendo has released its financial results for the first nine months (April to December 2024) of the current fiscal year 2025. Revenue was ¥956.218 billion, approximately €5.928 billion, down 31.4% on the previous year. Operating profit also fell significantly, by 46.7% to ¥247.597 billion, or €1.55 billion. Profit attributable to owners of the parent decreased by 41.9% to ¥237.189 billion, or €1.47 billion.

However, with the Nintendo Switch approaching the end of its product lifecycle and the Switch 2 expected to be released before the end of the calendar year, this earnings trend comes as no surprise, although the decline was probably slightly greater than expected, leading Nintendo to lower its guidance for the full fiscal year 2025. Expected net sales have been reduced by 7%, operating profit by 22.2%, ordinary profit by 11.9% and profit attributable to owners of parent by 10%.

From April to the end of December 2024, Nintendo sold 9.54 million Switch consoles (sell-in), which is about 30.6% less than the previous year. Just over 50% of sales (5.07 million) were of the OLED model. In the three months from October to December, 4.82 million consoles were sold. Since its launch in March 2017, 150.86 million Switch units have been sold.

Software sales totalled 123.98 million units, down 24.4% year-on-year. The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom (September) sold 3.91 million units and Super Mario Party Jamboree (October) sold 6.17 million units. Super Mario Party Jamboree outsells Super Mario Party and Mario Party Superstars over the same period. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe sold 5.38 million units for a cumulative total of 67.35 million units and Nintendo Switch Sports sold more than 2.63 million units for a cumulative total of 15.74 million units. The total number of million-selling games in FY25 was 19, 12 from Nintendo and 7 from other publishers. Both hardware and software sales were down on the same period last fiscal year, when sales were largely driven by The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (May 2023) and Super Mario Bros. Wonder (October 2023; total sales: 15.51 million). "Even so, sales remained steady for a platform in its eighth year," the company said. The number of annual Switch players is 129 million (Jan to Dec 2024).

Although Nintendo Switch hardware and software sales fell short of expectations, the company will continue to release new products and software, such as Donkey Kong Country Returns HD (released in January) and plans to release Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition in March. Nintendo is also planning to release Metroid Prime 4: Beyond and Pokémon Legends: Z-A this calendar year. This also applies to the Nintendo Switch 2. On 2 April 2025, the day after the start of the next fiscal year, Nintendo plans to reveal more about the upcoming console in a Nintendo Direct broadcast. After that, Nintendo Switch 2 experience events will be held in various cities around the world starting in April. No further details were given about the next console.

Top 10 Selling First-Party-Switch Titles

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe - 67.35m
Animal Crossing: New Horizons - 47.44m
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate - 35.88m
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild - 32.62m
Super Mario Odyssey - 29.04m
Pokémon Sword / Shield - 26.60m
Pokémon Scarlet / Violet - 26.38m
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom - 21.55m
Super Mario Party - 21.10m
New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe - 18.06m

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