Switch sales fall, forecast reduced as Zelda makes strong debut in latest Nintendo results

It’s Nintendo Financials Day—time to check in on how Nintendo, the Switch, and its games are performing. This report covers Q2, from July to September, and includes updates on The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom, Emio – The Smiling Man: Famicom Detective Club, and Nintendo World Championships: NES Edition.

Nintendo Switch sales fell 31.0% year-on-year, with 4.72 million units sold this quarter. Although game sales have also declined, a higher percentage of digital sales has led to an improved profit margin. However, this increase has been partially offset by higher sales of the OLED model, which has a lower profit margin. Thanks to the Nintendo Switch Lite: Hyrule Edition, console sales in Q2 were also higher than in Q1.

The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom was the only title to surpass one million units sold this quarter, with 2.58 million units. We didn’t expect Emio or Nintendo World Championships to reach that milestone, and without hitting a million, sales figures for those titles won’t be disclosed.

Nintendo has revised its forecast for the fiscal year ending March 2025, lowering its outlook on sales and profit. It has also reduced its projected Switch console sales by one million units to 12.5 million units, and anticipates a decrease in software sales.

There was no mention of a successor to the Nintendo Switch in this report.

Switch Hardware

Nintendo Switch total: 146.04m  (Up from 143.42m)
– Nintendo Switch: 730,000 this quarter
– Nintendo Switch Lite: 640,000 this quarter
– Nintendo Switch OLED Model: 1.25m this quarter

Switch Software Million Sellers Updates

• The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom – 2.58m
• Nintendo World Championships: NES Edition – Not reported
• Emio – The Smiling Man: Famicom Detective Club – Not reported

Nintendo also gave updates on Mario Kart 8 Deluxe which sold 2.31 million units in the quarter. Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door moved an additional 180,000 copies bringing it to 1.94m and Luigi’s Mansion 2 HD moved a further 380,000 copies bringing it to 1.57m in the quarter.

Nintendo World Championships and Emio not reporting means they sold under 1 million copies.

Evergreen Million Sellers

• Mario Kart 8 Deluxe – 64.27m (up from 62.90m)
• Animal Crossing: New Horizons – 46.45m (up from 45.85m)
• Super Smash Bros. Ultimate – 34.14m (up from 34.66m)
• The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild – 32.29m (up from 32.05m)
• Super Mario Odyssey –  28.50m (up from 28.21m)
• Pokémon Sword and Shield – 26.44m (up from 26.35m)
• Pokémon Scarlet and Violet – 25.69m (up from 25.29m)
• The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom – 21.04m (up from 20.80m)
  Super Mario Party – 20.98m (up from 20.84m)
• New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe – 17.77m (up from 17.61m)

We have received no new figure for Super Mario Bros. Wonder.