Nintendo Is Already Seeing Increased Sales of Merchandise and Games Thanks to The Super Mario Bros. Movie

Following the recent Q4 FY22 earnings report, Nintendo President and Representative Director Shuntaro Furukawa answered several questions from investors. In the Q&A available on Nintendo’s website (only in Japanese for now), Furukawa talked about the runaway success of The Super Mario Bros. Movie. As we’ve reported, the film became by far the biggest gaming adaptation ever, and it’s also currently the top earning movie released this year at the global office. However, according to the Nintendo President, the biggest impact will be in the medium and long term sales of Nintendo Switch hardware and software. In fact, he said the company had already noticed an uptake of classic Mario titles, in addition to increased merchandising sales.

The Super Mario Bros. Movie has received positive reactions around the world, and our coproducer (and Fellow Representative Director) Miyamoto is very pleased. Many families have
come to see the movie, and I have heard that some have already seen it multiple times. It is an
opportunity for people of all ages to experience our IP, not only those who are familiar with
Nintendo and Mario, but also young children and elderly people. We have set the basic strategy
of “people who come into contact with Nintendo IPs”.

In terms of the impact on our business, in the short term, the movie’s box office and
secondary use revenues will be recorded as sales for the current fiscal year (fiscal year ending
March 31, 2024), but more importantly, this movie will be a catalyst for people to become
interested in Mario games, which will have a positive impact on the sales of Nintendo Switch
hardware and software in the medium to long term. More importantly, the film will also generate interest in Mario games and have a positive impact on Nintendo Switch hardware and software sales in the medium to long term. In fact, we are already seeing positive results in various areas, such as increased sales of Mario-related merchandising and a slight uptake of the classic Mario titles available on Nintendo Switch Online. In the long term, we see this as a strong touch point for those who have never picked up a game before, or for those who have played before but have fallen out of the game (on our consoles), to become fans of Mario and Nintendo once again.

According to a rumor from this week, there may be a number of Mario titles that Nintendo is about to release, from a baseball game to a new 2D game and even a remaster of the beloved Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door classic. However, any official announcements likely won’t happen before September’s Nintendo Live, as insiders aren’t expecting a Nintendo Direct in June.