According to reports, Nintendo expects to sell 250 million units of software in its next fiscal year, comfortably breaking its current all-time records, thanks to a line of highly successful (mostly unconfirmed) games.
According to anonymous sources de Bloomberg, Nintendo has informed some partners and vendors of its expectations for the period from April 2021 to March 2022, and has set expectations of selling 250 million games. That huge number is apparently driven by what Bloomberg calls “a series of marquee game launches”, and what analyst Serkan Toto calls “A blockbuster line of software and much more powerful new hardware.”.
Nintendo is already forecasting a record sales year in its current financial year (ending March 2021), and expects to see 205 million units of software sold. Its best previous year came in financial year 2008, when the huge popularity of the Wii saw 204.6 million units sold. Fiscal 2020 was unexpectedly huge for Nintendo, with games rebounding due to the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic and the enormous success of Animal Crossing: New Horizons, propelling the company to its current success.
250 million units is a frankly huge increase on that new record, and if it turns out to be true, it will represent a great deal of confidence from Nintendo in its upcoming games. The new Pokémon Snap, Mario Golf: Super Rush and The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD will drop in that period, which could represent big sales, with a large proportion of Monster Hunter Rise sales likely to also occur in the next financial period. We could also reasonably expect the release of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2 and Pokémon Shiny Diamond / Pokémon Shimmering Pearl in that window. Looking further, Pokémon Legends: Arceus, Bayonetta 3, Metroid Prime 4, and Splatoon 3 could also fall into that period.
However, none of these include follow-ups to the three biggest Switch games yet: Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, Animal Crossing: New Horizons, or Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. While we can look forward to some additions to Nintendo’s line of games, these discussed numbers could point to some major unannounced games down the road.
The company is also apparently expecting to see further growth in its console space after the Switch has had incredible worldwide sales success in 2020, and a seemingly planned new Switch model, with a larger OLED screen, it could help keep that momentum going. Additionally, sales of games from the old catalog to new Switch owners could help propel the company toward that goal of 250 million units.
Nintendo hasn’t officially commented on this issue, and we likely won’t hear about it until the company’s next financial briefing on May 6, 2021.
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