Nintendo’s commendable year, invigorated by the successful releases of Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom and The Super Mario Bros. Movie, has proven fruitful, as highlighted in the company’s first-quarter financial report. The operating profit for the quarter reached a hefty ¥185.4 billion (roughly £0.96 billion GBP), marking an 82% increase from the same timeframe last year.
The striking first quarter performance can be credited largely to two factors: the universal success of the Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom game, which has sold an impressive 18.51 million units since its May launch, and The Super Mario Bros. Movie, which has amassed over £0.96 billion GBP at box offices worldwide since its release in April. The company’s prior record for the first quarter, a ¥144.7 billion operating profit, was set in 2020.
The total revenue for Nintendo’s first quarter amounted to ¥461.34 billion (approximately £2.55 billion GBP), considerably outperforming the forecasted total revenue of ¥395.40 billion. The expected net operating profit for the quarter was also surpassed, originally predicted to be ¥109.91 billion.
The impressive surge in Switch sales this year, which saw 3.91 million units sold, an uptick from last year’s first quarter sales of 3.43 million units, underscores the resounding success of the console’s games. This has been boosted further by the triumphant launches of an additional Zelda title (Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild) and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe this year.
