Nintendo Switch passes 84m sold, as company records record profits
But forecasts quieter 2021.
Nintendo's 2020 was one for the record books. The company earned its best ever operating profit of $6bn, and its second-best year of revenue, at $16.6bn.
Nintendo Switch now sits at 84.59m consoles and 587.1m games sold. (By comparison, Wii, Nintendo's top-selling home console, shifted 101m consoles. Wii U struggled to hit 14m.)
But Nintendo also expects a decline in profit and revenue for the current financial year, ending 31st March 2022, unable to match the same level of pandemic-boosted sales seen by Switch and its breakout success Animal Crossing: New Horizons over the past 12 months.
Perrenial best-seller Mario Kart 8 Deluxe has now passed 35.4m copies sold, with Animal Crossing: New Horizon on 32.6m copies after a year of release.
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Pokémon Sword/Shield and Super Mario Odyssey have each sold more than 20m copies total. Ring Fit Adventure has now passed 10m sold.
Recent release Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury shifted 4m copies in its first six weeks, showing there's still plenty of success to be had in re-releasing Wii U games for a wider audience.
Looking ahead, Nintendo has Miitopia in May, Mario Golf: Super Rush set for June, followed by The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD in July. Last night, it also announced Game Creator Garage, an eShop game creation station set for 11th June.
Later this year, Pokémon Brilliant Diamond/Shining Pearl are set for launch before Christmas, with Pokémon Legends: Arceus due in early 2022.
Nintendo is still to say how it will mark Zelda's 35th anniversary year beyond Skyward Sword, other than promising more news on Breath of the Wild 2 at a later date (E3?). There's also the big question mark of a new Switch capable of 4K output - of which there have been plenty of whispers.