Nintendo Investor Questions Answered Promise Switch Won’t Die After Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom
Earlier this week, we took a look at Nintendo’s financials for the third quarter of fiscal 2023, and several major milestones were passed – Switch sales surpassed the Game Boy, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe sales surpassed 50 million, and more. All of which pointed to a Q&A session with the company’s directors who would be looking to the future of the console, unpacking what’s coming next, and possibly hinting at some projects in the pipeline.
Well, the Q&A was posted today, and the content… is not exactly what we hoped it would be.
What is repeated in all eight questions of the six-page document is that Nintendo is entering (what the directors often refer to as) “uncharted territory”. It’s a console that’s approaching its seventh year on the market (a point that’s equally hammered everywhere), and the director’s responses seem to suggest a certain level of tiptoeing about what’s next, especially with the Switch’s declining sales. As Nintendo spokesman and president Shuntaro Furukawa candidly states:
Q4 sales were solid, but in the seventh year of the Nintendo Switch, it can be difficult to increase sales through hardware-related initiatives alone.
It looks like the cure for now is to focus on releasing new Switch games and keeping the ones that are already out:
we want to maintain a high level of interaction with the hardware and create new demand by not only releasing new games, but also by continuing to work to deliver the appeal of existing games.
This feeling that there is more juice in the tank is reflected in a number of the Director’s responses. Leading up to the February Direct Showcase, there was growing concern that Nintendo had nothing planned for the second half of 2023 following the release of The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. Though now we know what we’ll get some new headlines in the following months (eg Pikmin 4 comes out on July 21), this concern can be clearly seen in the report questions, which, mind you, were asked before Direct.
It’s on this occasion that Furukawa confirmed that more games will be coming to the Switch in the second half of the year (unsurprisingly), although he didn’t go into details about what form they would take:
March marks the start of Nintendo Switch sales for the seventh year, and we view this as uncharted territory in the history of our dedicated video game platforms. Under these conditions, it is difficult to imagine that equipment sales will continue to grow at the same rate as now. However, games are being developed for the Nintendo Switch and new games will be offered in the future.
Looking over the rest of the company’s responses, Furukawa and Hajime Murakami (CEO) remain silent. The last year’s success of both Splatoon 3 and Pokémon Scarlet and Violet are discussed, which are described as products that “build long-term relationships with our consumers”, while briefly mentioning Nintendo’s ongoing desire to create games with “unique entertainment” such as Nintendo Switch Sports and Ring Fit Adventure in the future.
However, the discussion noticeably lacks any mention of future hardware. Neither questions nor answers address anything outside of Switch throughout the entire document.
We can’t help but think it’s a bit odd that one of the company’s hottest topics hasn’t been touched on in any capacity (even when discussing the Switch’s declining sales), but it’s likely that the company will remain silent on the matter. until an official announcement appears sometime in the future.
Q&A Summary is now published in its entirety online, so be sure to check out the full rundown of each answer.
What do you think about the future of the Switch? Find it suspicious that there is no discussion of hardware? Let us know about it in the comments!
