Reggie Fils-Aime: Nintendo is focused on the next big idea
Fox Gamer: Nintendo of America's Reggie Fils-Aime on the future of the gaming industry and fan reaction to the launch of the Nintendo Switch
To say that Nintendo had a great year is a bit of an understatement. The Japanese company just enjoyed its best year since 2010 and the Wii U disaster is already a distant memory. The reason for this renewed success is of course the Switch.
When Nintendo launch the hybrid console back in March 2017, the goal was to sell 10 million units before the end of the financial year. In the end, just over 15 million were sold with the total now edging towards 18 million. The next goal for this financial year is to reach 20 million, which will happen in the next couple of months.
As The Verge reports, Nintendo's profit for last year was $1.62 billion. Compared to the previous year when the Wii U wasn't selling, that's a 505 percent increase. Revenue increased to $9.66 billion, which is 116 percent higher. Nintendo benefits from having such popular first-party games, which is why it should come as no surprise the company sold 10 million copies of Super Mario Odyssey, nine million of Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Edition, and six million of Splatoon 2.
Reuters reports that alongside all this good news coming out of Nintendo, the company also announced a major change at the top. The current 68-year old president Tatsumi Kimishima is being replaced by 46-year-old Shuntaro Furukawa who had been Nintendo's managing executive officer in charge of global marketing and corporate planning. Furukawa's top priority is "to keep and expand momentum for the Switch."
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It doesn't look as though this new momentum Nintendo has will slow down any time soon. Alongside impressive Switch sales the company also managed to sell over five million of the SNES Classic Edition and Nintendo Labo is only just taking off. Then we have the huge potential for future game releases and everyone will be keen to see what Nintendo does with Pokemon on Switch and what comes next for the 3DS.
This article originally appeared on PCMag.com.
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