Earlier today, Nintendo released their financial report for the 2014 fiscal year. While the results were lower than they had been in previous years, they were still above expectations, despite missing some sales predictions.
Getting into the nitty-gritty of it, from April 1, 2014 to March 31, 2015, the company made a net profit of 41.8 billion yen (about $350 million), while the development and sales side of the business brought in 24.7 billion yen (about $207 million). In terms of these sales, Nintendo cites the strong launch of the New 3DS and New 3DS XL. Meanwhile, prior to the release, sales for the original 3DS were not as strong as they had hoped, with global sales sitting at 8.73 million.
On the other hand, software sales for the portable platform remained strong, with Pokémon Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire and Super Smash Bros. for 3DS moving 9.94 million and 6.75 million units respectively. Sales for previous games like Tomodachi Life, Mario Kart 7 and The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask 3D also remained steady, each selling over 2 million units. In all, portable software titles saw a total sales figure of 62.74 million units. On the Wii U side, releases of Mario Kart 8 and Super Smash Bros. for Wii U helped sell 3.38 million consoles and 24.4 million total Wii U software units. This was still below expectations, but apparently not by much.
Here are the hard numbers, if that’s more your thing:
Wii U
Hardware Sales (financial year) — 3.38 million units
Hardware Sales (life to date) — 9.54 million units
Hardware Sales Projection (2014 to 2015) — 3.4 million unitsSoftware Sales (financial year) – 24.4 million units
3DS
Hardware Sales (financial year) — 8.73 million units
Hardware Sales (life to date) — 52.06 million units
Hardware Sales Projection (2014 to 2015) — 7.6 million unitsSoftware Sales (financial year) — 62.74 million units
Wii
Hardware Sales (financial year) — 460,000 units
Hardware Sales (life to date) — 101.52 million units
Hardware Sales Projection (2014 to 2015) — 100,000 unitsSoftware Sales (financial year) — 11.73 million units
Now that we have that out of the way, let’s get to the exciting bit! While sales related to the 3DS family are expected to decline, a big factor in Nintendo’s expected profits for the coming year is plans to continue to support its platforms with new titles and existing titles with more downloadable content. Specifically cited are last year’s biggest sellers, Mario Kart 8 and Super Smash Bros., which the company wants to extend the life of with new downloadable content, hopefully meaning that more characters, tracks and stages will be coming down the pike.
They also mentioned that “a new source of revenue is expected from a gaming application for smart devices,” likely referring to the company’s new partnership with mobile developer DeNA.
Additionally, Nintendo voiced their hopes that newly-released titles and those on the way will help with sales, as well. Key among these were Xenoblade Chronicles 3D, Fire Emblem If and a previously unannounced new entry into the Rhythm Tengoku (Rhythm Heaven) franchise. On Wii U, Nintendo has high hopes for Splatoon, Yoshi’s Woolly World and Mario Maker. Finally, on the amiibo front, Nintendo is hoping to increase demand for the figures by releasing even more compatible titles, as well their 3DS NFC Reader/Writer accessory.
Does this new outlook seem promising to you? What do you think of Nintendo continuing to offer DLC for their existing titles? Is it a good idea, or should they concentrate on making more new games? Lets us know in the comments!
