Nintendo has released their financials for the first quarter of fiscal year of 2018. For the period spanning April 1st through June 30th, sales and profits are up for the company, making for the most profitable Q1 since the same period in 2011. This year, sales were bolstered by the continued popularity of the Nintendo Switch and new releases like Mario Kart 8 Deluxe.
To wit, Nintendo’s net sales were 154,069 million yen, a 148.6% increase over last year. Operating income was 16,208 million yen, while profits as a whole stood at 21,260 million yen. Nintendo has projected a 124% jump in operating income with 65,000 million yen by the end of the year.
The Nintendo Switch sold 1.97 million for the quarter, bringing its lifetime total to 4.7 million worldwide. Software on the Switch total to 8.14 million for the quarter, and 13.6 million lifetime. Nintendo has not changed their projection of 10 million Switches sold for the fiscal year. In comparison, the Wii U sold 5.86 million in its first full year on market.
As for the 3DS, the handheld line sold 950,000 for the quarter, bringing the lifetime total to 67.08 million. In software, 5.85 million units were sold, with 355.1 million software sold lifetime. With the launch of the New Nintendo 2DS XL this month, coupled with late software for the ageing platform remaining this year, Nintendo projects to sell 6 million units this fiscal year.
In software news, Zelda: Breath of the Wild sales remained strong with 1.16 million sold in the quarter. The open-world Zelda adventure now sits at 3.94 million worldwide since its March launch. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is catching up fast to that total with 3.54 million units sold. The new Switch IP ARMS debuted last month to 1.14 million worldwide. Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia, the sole 3DS first party release for the quarter, had no figures given but is said to be a “popular title”.
Nintendo confirmed that several titles, mostly for Switch, are due in 2018 or later. A core series Pokémon for Nintendo Switch, announced at E3, is due in 2018 or later. Other Switch games, including Metroid Prime 4, and new Kirby, Yoshi, and Fire Emblem installments are all pegged for 2018. The sole 3DS game due in 2018 is the recently announced Sushi Striker: The Way of Sushido.
In other areas of the company, mobile software stays steady with income coming from Super Mario Run and Fire Emblem Heroes sitting at $81 million. Pokémon GO, itself not fully owned by Nintendo, generated $29.4 million in income. amiibo sales are lukewarm this quarter as 1.60 million units for figure-types were sold, and 1.30 million of the card amiibo selling. Nintendo also cites continued steady growth of digital sales on the Switch, including retail and downloadable content.
Nintendo’s Q2 2018 started in July and ends on September 30th. Results from the quarter are to be revealed in mid-October. Numbers and memorandum to look for three months from now include the continued sales of Nintendo’s hardware, software sales for titles Splatoon 2 and Metroid: Samus Returns, and the debut figures of the Super NES Mini.
