Forward-looking: Nintendo recently announced it will continue making gaming products. Its next console, it said in an earnings report, is scheduled for 20XX. In other words, it’ll launch sometime in the next 28,544 days (if there are no delays).
In its report, Nintendo explained that it “plans to continue to expand its business around the core concept of creating unique integrated hardware-software products,” which has worked fairly well for the last forty-odd years.
This year hasn’t been one of the better ones so far, though. Nintendo lost its top spot as console maker to Sony after the Switch missed its production goal by 20 percent. Its net profit for the first half of this year fell by 19 percent versus last year.
Nintendo CEO Shuntaro Furukawa attributed some of the downturn to the triumphs of last year when Animal Crossing: New Horizons “drove the entire Nintendo Switch business.” More than 40 percent of new Switch owners chose it as their first game.
Nintendo has been able to recoup some of the recently lost hardware sales with additional game sales. Its sales forecast for this fiscal year has been updated from 190 million games to 200 million. Its upcoming titles, which include three Pokémon games and another entrant into the Legend of Zelda franchise, are expected to do well.
Nintendo’s general plan for the future is to continue pursuing existing avenues, which includes more games, updates to its digital services like Nintendo Switch Online and the Expansion Pack, and potentially, further hardware revisions of the Switch when necessary.
That said, Nintendo is quite happy with the OLED Switch. Furukawa is optimistic about it spurring a sixth consecutive year of growth in Nintendo’s dedicated console business, which would be a first.
Nintendo has also found success with its physical stores in Tokyo and New York, is readying another in Osaka, and making plans for more. It’s also evaluating sites for Super Nintendo World theme parks in Hollywood, Orlando, and Singapore.
Nintendo also wants to follow up the Super Mario movie with more “video content.”
On the whole, Nintendo’s outlook for the future hasn’t changed much in the last few years. Why fix it if it ain’t broke?
