Zelda: Breath of the Wild outsells Nintendo Switch consoles

Nintendo has released its earnings report for the fiscal year running from March 31st 2016 to March 31st 2017.

The Japanese gaming giant experienced net sales of $489.1 billion yen (about $60 million CAD), with a three percent decrease on a year-on-year basis, while also having an operating profit of $29.4 billion yen (approximately $3.7 million CAD), a 10.7 percent decrease year-over-year.

The consistently out-of-stock Nintendo Switch, initially released on March 3rd, is off to a “promising start” according to Nintendo, and has shipped 2.74 million units. The Switch version of Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, on the other hand, sold 2.76 million units.

It’s actually quite telling that Breath of the Wild sold slightly better than the Switch’s hardware, as it could indicate that consumers are still buying Zelda despite the fact that the Nintendo Switch is out of stock at most retailers. Additionally, the Wii U’s iteration of Breath of the Wild sold 1.08 million copies. 1-2-Switch, one of the few other games available for the Switch at launch, sold 2.7 million units. Furthermore, as expected, Pokemon Sun and Moon has sold more than 15 million units worldwide.

Nintendo plans to follow-up the release of Breath of the Wild and 1-2 Switch with Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, ARMS and Splatoon 2.  The company’s earnings report did not mention Super Mario Odyssey, however, but does bring hope for more games being announced at this year’s E3.

Within the earnings report Nintendo touches upon the sales of its iOS and Android games, Super Mario Run and Fire Emblem Heroes, emphasizing that the company plans to continue working in the mobile gaming space.

Additionally, the Nintendo 3DS experienced a seven percent sales increase on a year-over-year basis, amounting to 7.27 million units. While software sales for the 3DS produced a 14 percent increase on a year-over-year basis, selling 55.08 million units, mostly due to the release of Pokemon Sun and Moon.

Nintendo also plans on releasing few notable titles for the Nintendo 3DS over the course of the next year, such as Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia, Hey! Pikmin and a new multiplayer action game in celebration of Kirby’s 25th anniversary.

Although Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild sold 1.08 million units for the Wii U, the console’s sales are not looking great. Hardware and software sales show a 77 percent and 46 percent decrease respectively.

Although this is to be expected when a video game console is being phased out following the release of its successor.

Source: Nintendo