This information comes from Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa…
In the mobile business, it is of course important to find the right playstyle for smart devices, but we also want to use the overwhelming volume of smart devices to increase the points of contact between Nintendo IP and consumers all over the world. To increase the profitability of the mobile business as a whole, we will maintain and expand services for existing titles while developing new ones. To that end, we plan to proactively drive and discuss partnerships with other companies to utilize their various strengths. Our goal in doing so is to make sure consumers around the world are able to continue playing Nintendo entertainment.
We use events, major updates, and other methods to ensure that consumer continue to enjoy our existing applications. Fire Emblem Heroes is almost completely localized into Portuguese, and will be released in the South American market. Likewise, Dragalia Lost will also be newly released in English-speaking countries such as Canada, UK, and Australia.
This information comes from Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa…
In last September, we launched Nintendo Switch Online, a paid service that expands the online functionality of Nintendo Switch. Nintendo Switch Online has had a good start, with the number of subscribers surpassing 8 million accounts not including free trials. In keeping with our goal of providing Nintendo Switch owners with “More Games. More Features. More Fun,” we are working on continuing to expand the service offerings.
This information comes from Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa…
Nintendo’s core business will continue to be the integrated hardware-software video game platform business. To constantly create fresh surprises, never forgetting the spirit of originality based on the belief that the “value of entertainment lies in its uniqueness.”
And our goal is for consumers to experience the kinds of Nintendo entertainment made uniquely possible on a dedicated video game platform, and keep them playing and enjoying it..
This information comes from Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa…
In this market environment, we believe that the strengths Nintendo has cultivated historically will become even more important. It is the strength of being in a position to create the value unique to Nintendo, through developing both hardware and software as integrated products, and is the strength of being able to create the entertainment which can be enjoyed by anyone including families and friends, both children and adults, with a lot of fun when they get together.
We want to expand the consumer base that interacts with our core value by utilizing Nintendo IP, and deepen our connection with consumers through initiatives to leverage Nintendo Account.
This information comes from Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa…
The current market environment for smart device applications is showing signs of maturity, and the competition is becoming even fiercer. Also, it’s becoming difficult to create different game experiences on different devices. And, with the pervasiveness of smart devices, the gaming population has expanded rapidly beyond the reach of Nintendo’s dedicated video game products. We will continue to propose products that are not limited by the definition of “game,” and that bring entertainment to various consumers regardless of region, gender, or age. However, the term of “gaming population expansion” itself does not fit in the current situation.
This information comes from Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa…
We are continuously pursuing our basic strategy of expanding the number of people who have access to Nintendo IP.
Toward that end, first, we will continue to pursue the design and development of unique products and services that are overwhelmingly fun to play and whose appeal is easy to understand at a glance. This serves as an engine for Nintendo’s growth and boosts our value as a company. Second, we will continue active use of Nintendo IP. We aim to broaden the genre and scale of Nintendo’s involvement in entertainment through the use of smart devices and other kinds of entertainment besides games.
Third, we aim to create long-term relationships with consumers through initiatives to promote the business based on the use of Nintendo Account. These three points, while emphasized differently in the different areas of our business, are considered guideposts for how Nintendo should proceed.
This information comes from Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa…
When I became company president, I discussed with the directors here today the questions, “What is Nintendo?” and “What it does as a company in the first place,” and we reaffirmed that we are “a company which creates entertainment that brings smiles to people’s faces.” Nintendo has long upheld the idea of “entertainment” as the cornerstone of its business, and we want to continue to make people smile through entertainment. To understand how we arrived at this basic strategy, I’d like to start by looking back at the changes in the business environment surrounding Nintendo between the 2000s and now, and how the company changed strategies in response.
At the start of the 2000s, advancements in video game system performance rapidly led to more sophisticated and complex games. This created a growing belief among the general public that games were only for a select group of fans, which led to stagnation brought about by shrinking demand for games as indifference among some consumers grew. We called this the “gamer drift” phenomena, and in response…
This information comes from Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa…
Titles from other software publishers are also seeing a steady rise alongside Nintendo Switch. Nintendo’s revenue related to software from other software publishers was more than twofold during April through December of 2018.
This chart presents a comparison of digital content sales for our dedicated video game platform business over the
years. Digital sales have expanded since Nintendo Switch was launched in March 2017. The background to this is that, in addition to the pure growth in sales volumes for Nintendo Switch software and the associated growth in overall digital sales, there are more consumers choosing digital versions of packaged software, as well as growth in download-only titles, addon content, and subscription services, such as Nintendo Switch Online, from both Nintendo and other software publishers.
Meanwhile, the sales volume for Nintendo Switch in the Asia region is growing significantly compared to past Nintendo platforms. Sell-in for Nintendo Switch in the Asia region has already reached more than twice the cumulative sell-in for Nintendo 3DS. Looking at the percentage of units shipped to the Asia region compared to its total cumulative sell-in, Nintendo 3DS cumulative sell-in never reached more than the 1-plus-percent range, while the figure for Nintendo Switch is already 7 percent.
This information comes from Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa…
This chart shows the combined sell-through in Japan, the US, and Europe since April of 2018 for the four titles you see here. All four were released in the year before last, 2017. Sell-through of each title continued at a reasonable pace, then spiked upward toward the end of the year. As the spread of Nintendo Switch progresses, the number of new consumers is increasing. And to consumers who just purchased Nintendo Switch hardware, every existing title seems new. One of Nintendo’s strengths is how easy it is for consumers with past experience playing Nintendo games to become interested in new Nintendo-brand titles. And if the steady sales of our evergreen titles can reliably support our overall software sales, we believe that will help fill any gaps between releases of new titles.
This information comes from Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa…
Pokémon: Let’s Go, Pikachu! and Pokémon: Let’s Go, Eevee!, released in November of last year for Nintendo Switch, are among the first Pokémon series titles designed for a home gaming system, and have been well-received by many consumers. We’d like more people all over the world to continue playing these titles. The people who first came in contact with or regained interest in Pokémon through the Pokémon GO application for smart devices are purchasing this title, as are the increasing number of children for whom this is the first title they have ever played in the Pokémon series. We hope to continue to show consumers the appeal of these titles, and that playing them will serve as a link to the entirely new entry in the series, planned for release late this year.
