Nintendo earned earnings for a major holiday quarter in which the Switch sold more consoles than ever before. 11.57 million consoles have been moved in total, which the Switch has sold nearly 80 million since its launch in 2017. Nintendo raised its forecast for the fiscal year ending March 31 to 26.5 million Switch units, which also increased its net profit estimate from 33 percent to 400 billion yen, or $ 3.82 billion.
The Switch has now sold out the 3DS in terms of lifelong sales, with the older handheld reaching a total of 75.94 million units before production ended. Only 730,000 3DS games were shipped during the last quarter, highlighting that the platform is really dead at this point.
It was also a big quarter for Nintendo in terms of software sales, with nearly 76 million units sold. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and Animal crossing: new horizons both crossed the 30 million mark for the first time, while The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Pokémon Sword / Shield has now sold more than 20 million each.
Nintendo increased its fiscal forecast three months ago to 24 million Switch units of 19 million, citing increased demand due to the COVID-19 pandemic. But with more than 12 million consoles shipped at that point in the year, it was still a fairly conservative prediction; last year’s holiday quarter, Nintendo shipped nearly 11 million consoles.
The biggest Switch title in the next quarter is probably that of Capcom Monster Hunter Rise, while extended Wii U port Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Wrath also coming later this month. Both games are offered as part of Switch hardware bundles, which could further increase Switch’s sales for the rest of the financial year.