Today has truly been a dichotomy of news concerning Nintendo and Microsoft. The latter has announced that they will shut down multiple popular studios that have released good games in the past as part of a “restructuring” project with the goal of “streamlining” their gaming output. This has devastated and angered many, including those who work for Microsoft. Then, on the flip side of things, Nintendo released its quarterly numbers, revealing that while the Switch sales are slowing down, they’re still doing well. They sold over 15 million units over the last fiscal year. Software sales are doing incredibly well, and the company will announce its successor within the next fiscal year.
But there is more going on here than just those exciting things. One of the elements in the financial report, as shown by insider Stealth, is that Nintendo isn’t just doing well, they had a record net profit in 2023. As the graph below shows, when you look at their profit all the way back in the 1980s when they first got into the gaming space, to 2023, things have never looked higher for The Big N:
There are numerous factors that likely contributed to that. First off, the sales of the Switch continue, and their install base is now over 140 million. Just as important, their video games like The Legend of Zelda Tears of the Kingdom, Super Mario Bros Wonder, Super Mario RPG, and others helped contribute to an incredibly strong 2023 lineup. Just as important, they had the success of the Super Mario Bros Movie, which not only brought them some revenue, but got them on a global media stage that even got them a Golden Globes nomination!
No matter how you look at it, Nintendo has been crushing it, and even with the “less than stellar” 2024 that they have going on so far, that doesn’t mean that they’re not doing anything. There’s going to be a Direct in June that will likely unveil some big 1st and 3rd party titles for gamers to enjoy. Just as important, gamers can take heart in The Big N knowing that they have to do a good transition between the Switch and the Switch 2, whatever that is, so that they can capitalize on the momentum that they have right now.
But even more than that, as Stealth noted, Nintendo didn’t punish its teams when the Wii U failed to do well. They turned inward, kept everyone going, and the Switch saved everything. That kind of class is what separates The Big N from Microsoft and Sony, among other big companies, of course.
