While things were looking grim during the Wii U era,Nintendohas bounced back in a major way with the Switch. The Nintendo Switch has been a massive success for the company, recently selling enough units to become thesecond-best selling Nintendo console of all time, right behind the Wii. Nintendo Switch games have also enjoyed strong software sales, and in fact, Nintendo plans on breaking its software sales record in the next fiscal year.
According to a new report by Bloomberg, Nintendo has said that it plans on shipping a staggering 250 million software units in the next fiscal year, which is from April 2021 to March 2022. This incredible sales number will reportedly be due to “marquee game releases” and a strong lineup of “blockbuster software” combined with the launch of thelong-rumored Nintendo Switch Pro console. If Nintendo attains this goal, it will have zipped past its current record, which is 204.6 million software units in 2008 (itself expected to be beaten when Nintendo reports its results for the current fiscal year, as it expected to ship 205 million software units).
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Selling 250 million software units is going to be a huge challenge for Nintendo, as it is 45 million units higher than it has ever sold in any given fiscal year. Some of the games that it will hope to accomplish this goal with includeMario Golf: Super Rush,New Pokemon Snap,The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD, andPokemon Brilliant DiamondandShining Pearl. This could also mean that 2022 games likePokemon Legends: ArceusandSplatoon 3will be released within the first few months of 2022.
Of course, this could also be a sign that some Nintendo Switch exclusives without release dates will also be available by March 2022. This could includegames likeThe Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2, which is currently without any kind of release window, as well asBayonetta 3andMetroid Prime 4. While some of these will almost certainly release in 2022, it’s also possible that Nintendo will launch some later in 2021 as well.
As it stands, Nintendo’s fall and winter 2021 lineup is mostly a mystery beyondPokemon Brilliant DiamondandShining Pearl. Besides games that have already been announced, it’s probable that Nintendo has some other titles in development that will launch this holiday season to bolster the Switch’s lineup of games, though what those games are remains to be seen. If rumors of the Nintendo Switch Pro console launching in late 2021 hold true, then maybeNintendois planning to drop a bunch of software alongside the new system to give it a launch boost.
Of course, most of this is just speculation at this time. Nintendo has not revealed many of its specific plans for the next fiscal year beyond trying to ship 250 million software units. Perhaps fans will find out more during the likelyE3 2021 Nintendo Direct presentationexpected to take place this summer.
