In accordance with what has been said and repeated in recent years, Nintendo does not intend to abandon the Switch anytime soon. Beyond the 23 million machines sold during the previous fiscal year, and forecasts of 21 million additional Switches for the current one, Furukawa explains that the catalog will continue to grow until spring 2023. “We have already announced part of the release schedule until next spring.“, recalls the interested party, adding that the uninterrupted success of the machine since 2017”allowed to allocate resources to the development of new games by focusing on a single platform“, which was not the case in the past.
Despite this success, which has definitively drawn a line under the difficulties of the Wii U, Nintendo says it remains vigilant on issues of technological transition. It is even “of major concern“according to Furukawa, in reference”to past experiences, especially from the time of the Wii and the DS“, and the obstacles represented by the emergence of a new hardware on the market. According to Nintendo’s CEO, the idea here is to ensure a “smooth transition“so as not to lose Switch owners along the way. In addition to games, the manufacturer believes it can count on the deployment of services linked to Nintendo accounts to retain players and achieve its ends. Not to mention, of course, the development of intellectual properties in beyond the software sphere, like the animated film Mario on the horizon 2023. “We hope to establish a privileged relationship with our users that will lead to the next generation of hardware“, sums up the manager, without providing any details at this stage on the machine that will one day succeed the Switch.
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At present, it is above all a question for Nintendo of consolidating its sales figures in a context of shortage and international conflict. Asked to comment on the proportion of OLED models among console sales, Shuntarô Furukawa believes that “demand for the OLED model remained strong” and “sales of OLED models will contribute to the results throughout the year, in significant propotions compared to the total sales on the hardware side“. During the previous financial year, this share would represent, according to the consoler, 25% of the Switch sold, and for a good part for the purposes ofupgrade material: “About 30% of Switch Lites sold were related to need for additional purchase, while about 40% of OLED models were related to demand for replacement“, according to the confidences of the President of Nintendo.
“To achieve our targets of 21 million units sold during the year, it is essential to maximize both these different types of demand, and we believe that the proportion of OLED models will naturally increase.“, assures Furukawa, who specifies that the shipment of new machines will go more by air freight this year. The objective: to circumvent the “challenges of the current period“and ensure delivery in view of the end of year celebrations, even so”it is very difficult to plan the transport of products not only to Europe, but also to other parts of the globe“.
On the other hand, we will not have updated data for the number of subscribers to Nintendo Switch Online, which notably opens access to online gaming on the machine – on this point, we will have to be satisfied with the figure communicated last September , which pegged the subscriber base at around 32 million. However, according to Furukawa, this would increase on a regular basis, following the increase in sales on the hardwarewhile acknowledging that “some customers whose subscription period has expired do not renew their membership“. Hence the need according to the CEO of Nintendo to “launch titles that allow users to continue enjoying online gaming and increase the appeal of the service itself“, like Nintendo Switch Sports released at the end of April, and which would have been adopted in the West by the nostalgic twenty-somethings of Wii Sports and Wii Sports Resort. Without forgetting soon Splatoon 3 and its strong online component, scheduled for September 9. .
Alternatively, have existing subscribers increase their subscription amount through additional options. Despite dripping catalog updates,”the number of subscribers to “Nintendo Switch Online + Additional Pack” has increased steadily and gradually represents a greater proportion of our subscribers“, assures Furukawa, specifying that this percentage of generous donors is “particularly high in the United States“, compared to other regions. The integration of additional content into the offer, whether Nintendo 64 games or DLCs for Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and Animal Crossing New Horizons would also have had a positive impact on the number new subscribers.”We will review whether to distribute additional content as part of the offer in the future, evaluating the most appropriate way to deliver this content for each game individually.“, concludes the Nintendo CEO sibylline.