Nintendo reports strong financial quarter, thanks to Zelda, Mario Kart, and Pikmin

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom has reportedly hit 19.5 million copies sold worldwide.

8 Nov 2023 11:55

Leah J. Williams

Nintendo

Image: Nintendo

Nintendo’s financial results for the Q1-Q2 FY24 financial quarter – the period between April and September 2023 – have revealed another strong performance for the company, with net sales and operating profit rising off the back of successful game releases.

Per its report, Nintendo generated ¥796.2 billion in net sales during the quarter, a steep rise of 21.2% year-on-year. Likewise, operating profit rose to ¥279.2 billion, a jump of 27% year-on-year. Sales in the first half over the fiscal year were reportedly “the largest since the launch of the Nintendo Switch” driven by new console sales, as well as high sales totals for blockbuster titles.

In Q1-Q2, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom proved to be a breadwinner for the company, with 19.5 million units sold worldwide.

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe was also a major contributor to sales totals, 3.22 million units sold in the same period. Nintendo has speculated this leap was driven, in part, by the success of The Super Mario Bros. Movie.

Rounding out the most successful games of the quarter were Pikmin 4, which sold 2.61 million units on debut, and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, which sold 1.35 million units.

Read: Pikmin 4 Review – Collective Might

Overall, these totals contributed to a 1.8% year-on-year rise for software sales, to 97.08 million units sold in the quarter.

Hardware faired similarly, with a 2.4% rise in overall hardware sales driven by renewed interest in the Nintendo Switch OLED model. 4.69 million OLED units were reportedly sold in the quarter, with just 1.25 million regular Nintendo Switch consoles sold in the same period. The Nintendo Switch Lite experienced a slight 1.9% drop in interest, with just 900,000 units sold.

As of Q1-Q2 FY24, the Nintendo Switch has now sold 132.46 million units worldwide. It’s still the second-most popular Nintendo console to the beloved Nintendo DS, but with only around 22 million units sold between them, the Switch may eventually overtake this record.

Overall, it’s an impressive achievement for Nintendo, particularly given the rising economic pressures worldwide. With major titles like Super Mario Wonder, WarioWare: Move It! and Super Mario RPG expected to make an impact in the next quarterly report, we expect to see similarly strong results from Nintendo in the near future.

In other news, the company also recently announced that a live-action film based on The Legend of Zelda is in the works.

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Leah J. Williams

Leah is an experienced entertainment and gaming journalist. With industry-leading knowledge at producing features, social, written and video content about video games and the entertainment sectors.