Video game giant and Switch console creator Nintendo has reported that its net profit rose by 52% in the first fiscal quarter due to the success of The Super Mario Bros. Movie and The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom.
In a highlighted financials, the company reported that demand remains strong for new Nintendo Switch game software, which got a boost from The Super Mario Bros. Movie, which grossed a whopping $1.3 billion and lured in over 168 million people to the Super Mario universe.
The movie performed so well that it is now one of the best-selling animated movies ever, just behind Frozen II, but is the highest-grossing animated film based on a video game. The 2019 remake of The Lion King was a bigger box office success with over $1.6 billion, although it’s not considered an animated film but a live-action.
The success of the The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, which came out in May, also contributed to Nintendo’s positive outcomes. The newest addition to the popular action-adventure series is already looking like a contender for Game of the Year.
A good year for Nintendo
Nintendo’s April-June net profit totalled $1.3 billion, up from nearly 119 billion yen a year ago. Quarterly sales surged 50% to 461.3 billion yen ($3.2 billion). The sales of the company’s hardware went up by nearly 14%, selling 3.9 million Nintendo Switch consoles. At the same time, software sales also rose by 26%, with 52 million games sold.
Nintendo’s revenue from its intellectual property business got a good increase as well, highlighted by the Super Mario movie and other royalties. The Switch maker maintained its profit forecast for the entire year at 340 billion yen ($2.4 billion), which is a 21% decrease compared to the previous year.
Nintendo has been promoting the concept of having multiple Nintendo Switch consoles in a household, rather than just one so that family members can each use a console to play together. The company has also announced a few upcoming titles including Super Mario Bros. Wonder, which is scheduled to release in October 2023.
Isa Muhammad is a writer and video game journalist covering many aspects of entertainment media including the film industry. He's steadily writing his way to the sharp end of journalism and enjoys staying informed. If he's not reading, playing video games or catching up on his favourite TV series, then he's probably writing about them.
