Nintendo Switch Gameplay Trends And Sales Figures In North America, Europe, And Japan

In the six months financial results briefing for the fiscal year ending March 2018, Nintendo president Tatsumi Kimishima shared interesting data on Switch gameplay trends and sales figures in North America, Europe, and Japan.

First, here’s a look at a chart on Switch gameplay trends for Japan, US, and Europe:

This indicates the Nintendo Switch gameplay trends. This chart is based on the figures for Nintendo Switch gameplay for registered Nintendo Account users, gathered via the Internet. There are three different Nintendo Switch play modes: TV Mode, where Nintendo Switch is docked and play occurs on a TV screen, and Tabletop Mode and Handheld Mode, where Nintendo Switch is removed from the dock. As the graph breaks it down, we can see how the different play modes for hardware use are classified, from the docked to the undocked experience. We can clearly see that consumers are playing to suit their own play styles.

Followed by a look at usage data on buyer ages and genders in the US:

Here is some information on who is purchasing Nintendo Switch. These are the results of an Internet survey that was given to consumers in the US market in October who had linked a Nintendo Account to their Nintendo Switch system. Please keep in mind that these figures are only for the US market. As you can see, purchases are primarily made by male consumers in their 20s and early 30s. The results also show good interest among consumers in the 10 to 19 age range. This lets us look forward to future growth in our consumer base.

Next, Nintendo shared some insight on Switch sales figures for the Japanese, US, and European markets.

United States and Canada:

This graph shows post-release Nintendo Switch sellthrough trends for the North American market. The above shows an overlay of sell-through figures together with Wii and Wii U data for the first years after release. While Wii and Wii U were released during the holiday season, it’s important to note that the Nintendo Switch launch was timed completely differently, in March. It now looks like holiday season sales for Nintendo Switch could catch up to the Wii figures.

Europe

These are the figures for the European market. Similarly for the European market, sales figures are tracking to those for Wii.

This graph shows sell-through trends for the Japanese market. The sell-through rates are clearly growing in Japan as well.

We ended up with Nintendo Switch product shortages after worldwide demand exceeded our anticipated numbers. We might have seen further sales growth if we were better prepared from the start.

Our message at the financial results briefing in April focused on expanding the energy from the launch of Nintendo Switch and on the importance of maintaining its buzz throughout the year ahead, to maximize the installed base. Two new Nintendo titles went on sale in March at the same time as the Nintendo Switch launch, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and 1-2-Switch. This was followed by the April release of Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, then ARMS in June and Splatoon 2 in July, generating non-stop consecutive release with titles that let you have fun with groups of friends or acquaintances. Our goal was to further promote longer play on Nintendo Switch.

 

During that same period, several software publishers were able to offer an impressive lineup of titles. From our consumers’ perspectives, the sense was that there were many titles available early on that could help cement a decision to buy our hardware.

This graph shows a regional breakdown of sell-through rates for five Nintendo titles. For Japan, the most impressive performer to date has been Splatoon 2. For Europe and the US, it has been The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. Worldwide, it has been Mario Kart 8 Deluxe with a strong selling. Each region shows different trends, but that said, we can see that no single title is monopolizing the market in any region.

This graph shows the trends for Nintendo Switch console use. We can see that our consumers are actually playing their Nintendo Switch once they have it. The continuous release of titles has led to increasing hardware use, without any significant fall-offs.

 

I would also like to touch on the progress we have made for our download sales. This figure shows the download sales of digital content for dedicated video game platforms compared to past years. Sales through the second quarter were the highest in our history for a sixmonth period. Download sales for Nintendo Switch highly contribute to increase of total download sales. Note: FY = Fiscal year (April through March of the following year)