NintendObs Thinks: Where the Switch goes from here.
The stuff they don't mention when they unselectively tell you about Nintendo.
By all accords, Nintendo is doing really great right now, all thanks to the Nintendo Switch business which became central to what they do. However, I’m not entirely sure that most people in the current context of the videogame market are aware of how great Nintendo is doing, nor that they’re aware of what it really means for the future Nintendo is preparing. In their latest Corporate Management Policy Briefing, their Six Months Financial Results Briefing for the Fiscal Year Ending March 2022 produced last Friday, Nintendo informed their investors on exactly what they plan to do, and it is available for all to see, appraise and judge.
First and foremost, if only for a good laugh, it is worth mentioning how much Nintendo had to apologize for Animal Crossing’s phenomenon being the cause of why this year’s results in 2021 are below the results of the same period in 2020, when Animal Crossing New Horizons was all the craze and significantly commanded Nintendo’s rise in profits. Even so, New Horizons excluded, the Nintendo Switch business still keeps growing, arguably supported by the three factors Nintendo defines as: its “three play modes [creating] a diversity of gameplay,” “motivations for purchase [that] are diversifying,” and “[a] robust lineup of evergreen titles and [a] continuous release of new titles.” Indeed, only the Switch on the market can be played in three modes which have de facto been embraced by the gaming community, driving current Nintendo Switch owners to consider purchasing additional Nintendo Switches for their households or themselves, supported by the Nintendo games people will keep playing (and buying) for the whole span of the console’s lifecycle — and even beyond — such as the clear examples that are Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.
But Nintendo is not stopping there. They are actually aiming for “a sixth year of growth,” “something never before experienced with [their] dedicated video game platform business.” Ever since Nintendo launched the Family Computer / Nintendo Entertainment System nearly forty years ago, Nintendo Switch will be their very first console to have kept on rising for six years straight. It is with confidence that I’m saying “will” because looking at the lineup of games from Nintendo this 2022 so far (Splatoon 3, Sequel to The Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild…), all things remaining constant, such a feat is already guaranteed.