Nintendo has admitted that Switch sales are unlikely to grow at the same pace going forward as the console prepares to enter its seventh year on the market.
Following its financial results being released earlier in February, Nintendo shared the English version of its investors Q&A session which revealed that the Switch’s best selling year might be behind us.
“Nintendo Switch is coming up on its seventh year of sales in March, and we see this as uncharted territory in the history of our dedicated video game platforms,” said Nintendo director and president Shuntaro Furukawa. “Under these circumstances it is hard to imagine that hardware sales will continue to grow at the same pace they have to date.
“Nintendo is still hopeful that sales could increase, however, through the launch of new games like The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom or from customers buying a second console.
“There are titles under development for Nintendo Switch, and new titles will continue to be proposed going forward,” Furukawa said.
“We are seeing both new demand and multiple system demand for the hardware, so we think there is still room for growth in sales. To that end, we want to maintain a high level of engagement with the hardware and create new demand not only by releasing new titles but also by working further to convey the appeal of existing titles.”
No console since the original NES, which launched in Japan in 1983 and wasn’t surpassed until the SNES launched in 1990, had been on the market for seven years. Nintendo hardware usually remains the company’s premiere option for five or six years.
The console is certainly performing well for Nintendo, however, as it’s now surpassed 122 million units sold and become the third best selling console of all time. As Nintendo noted, the upcoming launch of Tears of the Kingdom will also likely cause a spike in sales, even despite the $10 price increase.
Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelancer and acting UK news editor. He’ll talk about The Witcher all day.