Nintendo said Thursday its full-year net profit jumped nearly 40%, lifted by strong sales of blockbuster game titles for its popular Switch console.
The Kyoto-based games giant said “Pokemon” and “Super Smash Bros” gave an extra boost for the year as its shares surged on expectations of its launch of Switch games in China.
Nintendo’s net profit for the fiscal year to March rose 39.0% from a year earlier to 194 billion yen ($1.7 billion), on sales of 1.2 trillion yen, up 13.7%.
“The results for this fiscal year showed strong software sales for Nintendo Switch, which contributed to the expansion of hardware sales,” the firm said in a statement.
In particular, “Super Smash Bros. Ultimate” recorded sales of nearly 14 million units, while “Pokemon Let’s Go, Pikachu!”, and “Pokemon Let’s Go, Eevee!” sold more than 10 million units, it said.
For the current fiscal year to March next year, Nintendo forecasts its bottom-line profit would decline by 7.2% but set a higher sales target.
Nintendo’s latest portable console, the Switch has become a huge global seller, helped by the release of innovative, family-friendly titles that have wowed critics and gamers alike.
The company’s shares surged more than 12% since news reports said earlier in April that its games and the Switch will soon be available in China via tech giant Tencent.
