Nintendo Switch 2 Announcement Leaves Original Console’s Sales Unaffected

Nintendo seems pretty confident that the buzz around the Nintendo Switch 2 hasn’t put a dent in sales for the original Switch. This came to light when a shareholder probed the recent downward adjustment in their financial forecast. Initially, Nintendo scaled back its expectations for hardware and software sales by 1.5 million and 10 million units, respectively.

Shuntaro Furukawa, the president of Nintendo, explained why they made these changes. “After looking at how things went from October to December 2024 and predicting the rest of the fiscal year, we adjusted our Switch sales projections,” he said. They also tweaked the exchange rate estimates, now assuming 150 yen per U.S. dollar instead of 140, influencing their full-year forecast adjustments.

The Nintendo Switch has done remarkably well, selling over 150 million units and establishing a solid user base. This year, Nintendo planned to launch several exciting new games, backed by its wide range of evergreen titles. They hoped to hit ambitious targets, buoyed by an annual user base exceeding 100 million.

During the holiday rush, new releases like Super Mario Party Jamboree performed strongly across all regions. Additionally, hardware packages featuring games like Mario Kart 8 Deluxe sold well outside of Japan. However, even with a robust eighth year, sales didn’t quite meet the original targets.

Furukawa acknowledged that some consumers might have been holding back, waiting for the Nintendo Switch 2, but he noted robust purchases of both new and additional Switch units during the holidays. As far as software goes, even though there’s been a slight year-over-year decline, he doesn’t see postponed purchases as a major issue since Switch games will work with the Switch 2. He pointed out that unlike last year’s hits like The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom or Super Mario Bros. Wonder, this year lacked a single blockbuster title to drive buzz and boost sales.

For those eagerly anticipating more details on the next console, the Nintendo Direct: Nintendo Switch 2 presentation is the event to watch. It airs at 6am PT / 9am ET / 2pm BST / 3pm CEST on Wednesday, April 2nd.

The Nintendo Switch 2 is set to hit the global market in 2025, although the exact release date is still under wraps.