Nintendo has announced its highest first quarter profit ever, thanks to the success of The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom and The Super Mario Bros. Movie. The company earned ¥185.44 billion ($1.3 billion) on sales of ¥461.34 billion ($3.2 billion), easily beating its previous fiscal Q1 record of ¥144.7 billion set in 2020.
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The success of The Super Mario Bros. Movie has been particularly impressive. The film has grossed over $1.3 billion worldwide, making it the highest-grossing original film based on a video game ever, and the second-highest-grossing animated film. This has led to a massive 190% year-over-year increase in revenue for Nintendo’s “mobile and IP-related income” category.
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom has also been a huge success, selling over 18.5 million copies since its launch in May. This makes it the fastest-selling Zelda game ever, and the best-selling game of 2023 so far. The game’s success has also helped to boost Switch sales, which were up 12% year-over-year in the first quarter.
Looking ahead, Nintendo has a number of upcoming games that could help it maintain its momentum. These include Super Mario Bros Wonder, Detective Pikachu Returns, WarioWare: Move It!, and Super Mario RPG with updated graphics. However, there are no marquee games like Tears of the Kingdom on the horizon, so it remains to be seen whether Nintendo can continue its record-breaking streak.
In addition to its game lineup, Nintendo was also facing some challenges from the ongoing chip shortage. This has caused production delays for the Switch, which has since been resolved.
Overall, Nintendo is in a strong position heading into the second half of 2023. The company has a number of promising games in the pipeline, and its Switch console remains popular. The company’s next-gen console is expected to arrive in late 2024 as well.
