Nintendo has reported a record-high quarter thanks to The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom and Super Mario Bros. Movie. The tentpole game release and animated film bolstered the company’s June quarter, resulting in a revenue of ¥461.34 billion yen (around $4.2 CAD).
The Japanese publisher saw a 50 percent increase versus last year, as reported by Bloomberg. Operating profits for Nintendo landed at ¥185.4 billion (roughly $1.7 billion CAD). This is an 82.4 percent increase, the highest first-quart profit recorded by Nintendo. Previously, the record was held by its 2020 quarterly profits around the time Animal Crossing: New Horizons swept audiences worldwide.
The Switch saw console sales rise when compared to last quarter. Nintendo reports that it shipped 3.91 million units against the 3.43 million units from the previous quarter. The company forecast Switch game sales to land at around 15 million for its current fiscal year ending March 2024. During the first quarter, Nintendo sold 18.51 million units of The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. It’s now become the ninth best-selling game on the console.
While investors are said to be worried buyers’ interest may be waning, The release of The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom amongst others have helped put some of those fears to rest. Though, this week, it was reported that Nintendo may be looking to launch a Switch successor in the second half of 2024. “Key partners” are already reported to have dev kits in hand.
The theatrical release of the Super Mario Bros. Movie helped Nintendo move the needle on its ‘mobile and IP related income’ by 190.1 percent versus last year. The box office for the movie was nothing but a global success story. Nintendo saw over $1 billion at the box office, becoming the highest-grossing movie of 2023 so far. Currently, it’s the second-highest-grossing animated movie of all time, sandwiched between Frozen II in the first-place spot and Frozen in third place.
