Kimishima on Switch projections, keeping up momentum, software lineup, third-party interest

This information comes from Nintendo president Tatsumi Kimishima…

We are planning to ship 10 million units of Nintendo Switch hardware in the fiscal year ending March 2018. The cumulative total for units shipped through the fiscal year ending March 2018 will be 12.7 million units.

During this period we will focus on extending the momentum of the Nintendo Switch business launch and achieving a broad installed base. All throughout the year, and of course during the holiday season, it is critical that we maintain buzz around Nintendo Switch.

To that end, we will release new titles at a regular pace. Furthermore, we will aim for consumers to continue enjoying Nintendo Switch for a long time through exciting social multiplayer titles. In addition, we hope to raise the value of Nintendo Switch by working with third-party publishers to create multiple hit titles early on and bolster the software lineup.

These are the first-party titles that have already been released or that have been announced for release in 2017.
We hope to create buzz and motivation for consumers to purchase Nintendo Switch by releasing titles such as these at a regular pace following the launch of Nintendo Switch.

We are also releasing two sets of paid downloadable content for The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, in summer and winter of 2017. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is already a huge title, even without this downloadable content, but we anticipate that this initiative will lead to even more consumers playing on Nintendo Switch.

We will bring consumers these three exciting titles with social competitive gameplay, which are all scheduled to release worldwide by this summer, to ensure that consumers can continue playing Nintendo Switch long-term. While these titles can obviously be played and enjoyed alone, each title in this lineup also encourages exciting competitive multiplayer action.

Pre-orders for Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, which we released today, were very promising. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe will be a definitive entry in the Mario Kart series that both children and adults can enjoy together. The battle mode is much more in-depth compared to the previous installment in the series. By sharing one of their Joy-Con controllers, players only need a single Nintendo Switch to start playing anytime and anywhere and inviting the people around them to join in.

Next we will release our new IP, ARMS, on June 16. ARMS is a new type of fighting sports game in which players swing and tilt the Joy-Con to control their characters. Despite its intuitive controls which make it easy to pick up, ARMS is a title that has rich strategies and techniques. In ARMS, players can play one-on-one matches, or enjoy exciting team battles which pit players against each other in teams of two.

Finally, on July 21, we will release Splatoon 2. The ability for players to bring their Nintendo Switch systems together and play local multiplayer matches in Splatoon 2 is a feature that can be expected generate a new gameplay scene that was not present in the previous installment in the series. We hope that these three first-party titles will all lead to continued play, encourage exciting social competitive gameplay throughout the summer, and accelerate momentum for Nintendo Switch going into the holiday season.

For Nintendo Switch, the main factor in providing exciting social competitive gaming is its strength as a portable home gaming system. Players can hone their skills by competing against opponents from around the world over the Internet on their TV screen at home. Then they can take Nintendo Switch with them to start a local wireless match anywhere they go. They can even hand a Joy-Con over to another person to start playing competitively together. All three of the titles I have just introduced support multiplayer over the internet as well as local
play that users can enjoy anywhere with their families and friends.

These unique characteristics of Nintendo Switch expand the joy of social competitive gameplay in third-party titles as well. As previously announced, the NBA2K series by Take-Two Games and the FIFA series by Electronic Arts, both popular overseas, will be coming to Nintendo Switch.

This is a portion of the third-party title lineup planned for release this year. The titles listed here are slated for release through the year in quick succession. There will also be several unique titles from indie developers coming to Nintendo Switch. Also, we have heard that various third-party publishers have much interest in unique features of Nintendo Switch. The ability to play anytime and anywhere on Nintendo Switch will undoubtedly bring fresh appeal to games from third-party publishers.

The variety of genres represented by these titles will help Nintendo reach broader audiences than we would be able to otherwise. On Nintendo Switch, we are promoting the establishment of a collaborative framework that facilitates the creation of many successful third-party titles right away.