Nintendo’s latest financial earnings report is out, and for the first time in four years, the company has posted an annual profit. It’s a remarkable turnaround too, going from last year’s loss of 23 billion Yen to this year’s profit of 41 billion Yen.
The strong sales came for them on the back of some good selling retail software- titles like Pokemon OmegaRuby/AlphaSapphire (10 million units), Super Smash Bros. for 3DS (6.75 million units), Super Smash Bros. for Wii U (3.65 million units), and Mario Kart 8 (5.11 million units) helped keep the cash coffers flowing. As for the hardware, Nintendo sold 9 million 3DS handhelds, and 3.6 million Wii U consoles. Lifetime sales stand at 52 million and 9.5 million units worldwide respectively.
Nintendo hopes to shift another 7.6m 3DS and 3.4m Wii U consoles in the next 12 months and to turn another profit, also planning on keeping software sales steady, via not only new upcoming games like Yoshi’s Wooly World and Xenoblade, but also by keeping interest in released games like Super Smash Bros. and Mario Kart 8 alive by releasing more DLC for them.
On the whole, it is good to see that Nintendo’s gamble on quality software has paid off. Hopefully they see this, and keep it in mind for when they refresh their lineup with the Wii U successor a few years down the line.