Nintendo Planning To Focus On Newer IPs To Increase Sales

Nintendo has a variety of well-known titles under its ownership. Games like Mario, Zelda, and Animal Crossing are household names. These games have colossal player bases all over the world. Nintendo has turned many of its first-party titles into pop culture phenomena with movies, TV shows, and other media. Some are so big that they sell in large numbers even years after launch. Such games are “evergreen” titles. But, as the saying goes, nothing lasts forever. And Nintendo’s widely popular titles will one day fall to this rule. However, a new interview suggests that Nintendo is aware of this.

In an Investor Q & A, President Shuntaro Furukawa stated that the excellent sales of “evergreen” games aren’t sustainable. So, new titles are the focus of Nintendo. According to Furukawa, the older titles won’t be chosen as much in the latter years of generation. Therefore Nintendo will focus on making up for this by launching fresh new titles. 

 We believe that both first-time purchasers of Nintendo Switch and those who already own the hardware are interested in purchasing new titles. Going forward, it will be important to offer not only a variety of hardware but to also strengthen sales of both evergreen and new titles.

So, it tells us how Nintendo wants to couple older titles with some new experiences. Pokémon Legends: Arceus is their most recent major launch, and it has sold well up to now. Currently, the games based on older titles are performing competently. An example of “evergreen” titles is Mario Kart 8, which is still selling in heaps years after their release. Furukawa also talked about this trend.

Evergreen titles that were released in previous fiscal years have made up a larger share of overall software sales since the last fiscal year. So far this fiscal year, in the nine months between April and December, titles released in past years comprised approximately 60% of unit sales for first-party software

Hence, this focus on making new games is a foresight by Nintendo. Research does show that consumers who buy the Switch prefer more unique titles over “evergreen” ones. So this new direction is based on fact.

The Nintendo Switch is also entering the sixth year of its cycle. As a result, most of the consumers already have a Nintendo Switch. There aren’t a lot of first-time buyers of the Switch. Consequently, many players have older games that launched early on. Hence new games are also essential in keeping current players on the Switch.

Nintendo is already working in this new direction. Many new games are coming out shortly. Nintendo Switch Sports and Mario Strikers: Battle League are just two new titles launching very soon. We are also getting new games from Nintendo this year. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2 and Bayonetta 3 are releasing in 2022. With new titles becoming the basis, 2023 will have an even more powerful lineup. We can’t wait to see what new games Nintendo gives us in the future.