Nintendo vows to ‘energise’ its Switch console offering following £200m cut to full-year forecast

Nintendo has cut its full year forecast blaming a drop off in demand for its Switch console.

The Japanese company has dimmed its full-year forecasts to a net profit of 370bn yen (£2.3bn) for the year ending 31 March, down from 400bn yen (£2.5bn) predicted last November.

In the trading update, the video games manufacturer also reported a 13 per cent decline in operating profit, from the same period in 2021.

Nintendo said the global semiconductor chip and supply chain shortages that affected last year caused Switch consoles to drop 21 per cent in year-on-year sales.

The company also reduced annual hardware sales forecast for the Nintendo Switch, now six years old, to 18 million units down from 19 million.

In response to the dampened sales, the gaming giant said they will “work to energize the platform by continuously adding new titles to those are already available and encouraging even more people to continue to enjoy playing Nintendo Switch”.

With the pandemic boom in indoor entertainment tech long over, and the cost of living crisis limiting discretionary expenditure, consumer engagement is fading.

“Regarding hardware, we aim to maintain sales momentum by continuing to convey the appeal of the Nintendo Switch family of systems”, the company said.

In terms of software, Pokemon proved a firm favourite, shifting over 20m units, however total software sales declined 4 per cent year on year to 172m units, “affected to some extent by the decline in hardware sales”.