Entertainment

Nintendo Chief insists the Switch momentum will keep going, even after its successor

By YURI KAGEYAMA

Japan Nintendo FILE - A man walks by Switch from Nintendo at an electronics retail chain store in Tokyo, on Oct. 13, 2021. (AP Photo/Koji Sasahara, File) (Koji Sasahara/AP)

By YURI KAGEYAMA

TOKYO — (AP) — Japanese video game maker Nintendo’s chief said Wednesday that Switch console sales were still going strong, while he promised its successor is coming.

“The momentum of the Nintendo Switch hasn’t stopped,” President Shuntaro Furukawa told reporters.

His comments come a day after Nintendo reported a 60% drop in its fiscal first half profit, largely because of declining sales of the Switch, which now is in its eighth year, as well as Switch games.

Furukawa did not give details on the greatly anticipated upcoming machine but stressed all current game software will be playable on the next Switch.

People may want to keep playing the offerings from the rich lineup already on sale, as well as the games they own, he added, insisting the Kyoto-based maker behind the Super Mario franchise wasn’t hemmed in by the idea of a console’s “life cycle.”

Nintendo is investing in both hardware and software development research, as well as movies, merchandising, amusement parks and music, Furukawa said.

Another Mario movie is set to be released in April 2026, a sequel to last year's hit film, and a Zelda movie is also being planned, although a date wasn't given. Movies boost game and machine sales, and the absence of a movie this year was one reason sales faltered, according to Nintendo.

Theme park Super Nintendo World is opening in Orlando next year, and another is set to open in Singapore. They’re already open in Japan and Los Angeles.

Official stores also help boost Nintendo fans, and a new one is opening in San Francisco next year. Nintendo stores are already open in New York, Osaka, Tokyo and Kyoto, in addition to the temporary pop-ups in various cities.

More than 100 million people around the world are playing the Switch, including those of all ages, according to the company.

Nintendo's shares, which have risen over the last year, had added 3.3% by midday Wednesday.

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Yuri Kageyama is on X: https://x.com/yurikageyama

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