Investor meeting: Kimishima on Wii U sales, Splatoon (April 2016)
During the usual meeting with investors, which always follows the presentation of the latest financial results, Nintendo talked about the sales of Wii U. First, a graph was shown, with sellthrough data for the Wii U worldwide. Since launch, the console has only sold over 12 million worldwide, which is “not as large as [what] we have seen with past home consoles” according to Tatsumi Kimishima (understament of the year!).
That being said, 2015 had Splatoon, which was a big hit (especially in Japan, where it really helped Wii U sales).
The next graph shows sales for first-party Wii U games for the first few months of 2016 (compared to the same period in 2014 and 2015). Sales are significantly better this year thanks to Splatoon still selling pretty well, but also the release of The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess HD and Pokkén Tournament.
The next graph is the same as the previous one, but for the United States. The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess HD and Pokkén Tournament both boosted sales in 2016, which is why sales are better than they were in 2015 during the same period.
The third graph is the same as the previous two, but for Europe. Just like in Japan and the United States, The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess HD and Pokkén Tournament both boosted sales in 2016. Unfortunately, it wasn’t quite enough, and 2016 sales are still below those of 2015 so far.
Tatsumi Kimishima explains that Splatoon was the main driving factor behind Wii U sales during the past Fiscal Year. It sold well in 2015 (its launch year), and kept selling well in 2016 too: in total, over 4.7 million units have been shipped worldwide (including bundles and digital copies).
At first, it appealed to “core” gamers, and then spread to other demographics (kids, women). According to Kimishima, Splatoon is an “excellent illustration of Nintendo’s strengths”.
He also talks about the Splatfests, and more precisely the number of participants (which has been steadily increasing ever since the very first one).
During the 13th Splatfest in Japan (April 23rd – 24th), 790 000 players participated: an all-time record. That means that over 50% of all players who own Splatoon in Japan participated: as Tatsumi Kimishima points out, it’s prety impressive that game released almost a year ago is still played by so many players (not just in Japan, but also worldwide).
As Splatoon is pretty popular in Japan, Nintendo didn’t wait long before expanding the IP beyond the game with various goodies and products, real-life events (like the Splatoon Koshien 2016), and more. Of course, the company plans on doing that in the future, with even more products, events, and tie-ins with external partners.
Source: Nintendo
