Reggie on why Nintendo keeps information close to the vest, trying to make as many Switch units as possible
Mashable recently spoke with Reggie Fils-Aime, president of Nintendo of America. As part of the conversation, the site asked why Nintendo doesn’t run its business based on the suggestions from passionate fans.
Reggie said the following on that front:
“The fans should know that we are not a company that is sitting in a little ivory tower and not thinking about all of these dynamics. [We’re] a company that likes to keep our information very close to the vest, and announce information when it’s ready and when all of the elements are fully fleshed out.”
“We love to surprise people. We also believe that the consumer should have the information when they’re ready to act on it. Telling someone about a game that’s four of five, six years away from actually launching? Just doesn’t make a ton of sense to us. But sharing information in order to frame how we are looking at a franchise, looking at an IP, that’s something we do very thoughtfully.”
“A hypothetical on one message board gets picked up on another message board as fact. That is the nature of the state of the industry today. And that’s why we do want to manage our messaging so closely.”
The discussion eventually turned to Switch production, which Reggie says Nintendo “dramatically over delivered” on. Even though some believe the company hasn’t been doing enough with supply, Reggie indicates that Nintendo is doing everything in its power to get more units into the market.
“As we look at the overall business, we’re constantly looking to do the right thing for the consumer. We actually sold through almost 2.8 million (Switch) units, so we dramatically over delivered. And yet, demand outpaces supply. So what do some of the consumers on Reddit say? ‘Gosh, Nintendo, if you would’ve made more you would’ve sold more.’ Well, we did make more! And certainly we’re on a pace to supply in the current fiscal year 10 million units.”
“I think if you were to go back and look at some of these comments, you would actually see that the issues have been resolved, but it’s happening at a pace that is later than maybe where the commenters would like the resolution to be. But it happens. And the solution is there.”
