Nintendo Financials (February 2024): results and highlights, Investors Briefing, Q&A

9 February 20249 February 2024 Lite_Agent Nintendo Financial Results

Nintendo Financials – Results

Nintendo have shared their latest financial results, covering the period ended December 31st, 2023 (April 1st 2023 to December 31st 2023). You will find all the details on these pages:

Consolidated Financial Highlights, with consolidated operating results, the forecast for the current Fiscal Year, Nintendo comments, sales information (regional breakdown, digital sales), sales data and forecast, and more
Financial Results Explanatory Material, with lots of additional sales data, list of million-sellers this Fiscal Year, release planning, and more

Some highlights:

Super Mario Bros. Wonder is off to a fantastic start with 11.96 million units sold during its launch quarter;
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom enjoyed strong sales with 20.28 million units sold since launch (+780.000 units sold during Q3)
Pikmin 4 has now sold 3.3 million units since launch (+930 000 units sold during Q3)
The release of the Super Mario Bros. Movie had a positive impact on the sales of Mario games
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe has now sold 60.58 million units, with 6.79 million units just this Fiscal Year (+3.57 million units during Q3)
A total of 24 games have sold over 1 million units this Fiscal Year (1st and 3rd party combined)
Nintendo Switch (Hardware) sales are slightly down with 13.74 million units sold (-7.8% Year on Year)
Nintendo Switch (Software) sales are also slightly down with 163.95 million units (-4.7% Year on Year)
Digital sales have reached 346.4 billion Yen (+11.7%) thanks to strong sales of the downloadable versions of packaged games and DLC, but also increased Nintendo Switch Online subscriptions (not to mention the weak Yen)
Mobile and IP business saw a notable increase in sales (75.2 billion Yen, +93.4% Year on Year), mostly thanks to the Super Mario Bros. movie
the forecast for the current Fiscal Year was once again revised

Also, the following pages have also been updated:

Dedicated Video Game Sales Unit: Hardware and Software sales for Nintendo consoles

Top Selling Title Sales Units: Top 10 Software for each platforms:

Nintendo Financials – Briefing

The transcript of the briefing can be found on this page!

Nintendo Financials – Q&A

The transcript of the Q&A session is now available in English!

Question 1: You previously explained that Nintendo Switch, in its seventh year since launch, had entered ”uncharted territory.” Looking back now at the nine months until the end of holiday sales season, how do you see the Nintendo Switch business as having performed this fiscal year? I’d also like to know whether good performance in the Nintendo Switch business will impact the time frame for the launch of new hardware.

Question 2: This fiscal year, The Super Mario Bros. Movie was a hit, and sales in the mobile and IP related business are doing well. How has this impacted profitability? Also, how do you think sales in the mobile and IP related business will trend over the medium term, including initiatives other than movies?

Question 3: Looking at the software sales numbers, there has been no sizable drop year-on-year despite the fact that the popular titles Pokémon Scarlet and Pokémon Violet were released in the same period of last fiscal year. I expect that Super Mario Bros. Wonder made a large contribution to sales during the three months of the third quarter (October to December), but it seems evergreen titles like Super Smash Bros. Ultimate and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe also sold well. Were they also supported by the additional exposure from factors like the streaming of the movie?

Question 4: If you subtract hardware unit sales for the first three quarters from the revised full-year forecast, the estimated sales for the fourth quarter (January to March) are calculated to be less than 1.8 million units. That seems quite low for a fourth quarter, but do you think it is a reasonable number? I’d also like to hear your thoughts on projected hardware sales for the next fiscal year.

Question 5: It seems that Nintendo’s approach to the life cycle of hardware has changed since the launch of Nintendo Switch. I’d like to hear your thoughts on the difference between Nintendo Switch and past platforms, and what is being emphasized in your research and development of a next-generation platform.

Question 6: [During the Corporate Management Policy Briefing held November last year,] there was mention of many people watching The Super Mario Bros. Movie even in regions where Nintendo’s dedicated video game platform business has not made much headway. Are you considering taking the movie’s success as a hint to expand your dedicated video game platform business to regions in which Nintendo Switch is not currently sold?

Question 7: I’d like to dig a little deeper into your intent to expand sales to “Other” regions following the success of the movie. While I think there are various bottlenecks when trying to expand business in “Other” regions, I’d like to know what kind of challenges there are, and whether it would be possible to fundamentally resolve them. Am I correct in assuming that the hardware pricing, in particular, is a challenge?

Question 8: Will the story for the film based on The Legend of Zelda revolve around a previously released video game, or will it be a completely new narrative?

Question 9: It looks like Nintendo has built a secure foundation for both its initiatives for the dedicated video game platform and for IP expansion. However, looking at the past, I think that external factors such as the introduction of new hardware by competitors and the rise of mobile gaming have impacted Nintendo’s business. Recently, new forms of entertainment have appeared, and video games themselves continue to evolve. Given this external environment surrounding Nintendo’s business, what kind of risks need to be considered going forward?