Nintendo reports its first profitable year since 2011

By Kris Wouk Published May 7, 2015

Despite its valuable brand, Nintendo has had a rough few years. The Wii U hasn’t sold nearly as well as its predecessor, and while the Nintendo 3DS and now New Nintendo 3DS are good sellers, that hasn’t been enough to keep the company from reporting annual losses. Until now, that is.

For the first time since 2011, Nintendo has announced a profit. Specifically, it saw a ¥41 billion ($350 million) profit for the last fiscal year ending March 31. This stands in stark contrast to last year, which saw losses of ¥23 billion ($193 million).

Recommended Videos

Worldwide sales of the Nintendo 3DS family reached 8.7 million units in the last year. The New Nintendo 3DS and New Nintendo 3DS XL “got off to a good start and continued to sell well,” according to Nintendo’s latest financial report (PDF link). Despite good sales, sales of older models in the 3DS family “did not grow as anticipated.”

Looking at game sales, Pokémon Omega Ruby / Pokémon Alpha Sapphire sold 9.94 million units, while Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS sold 6.75 million units. Tomodachi Life, Mario Kart 7, and The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask 3D each sold more than 2 million units.

The Wii U didn’t sell nearly as well as the 3DS at 3.38 million units, though games for the system sold well. Mario Kart 8 and Super Smash Bros. for Wii U sold 5.11 and 3.65 million units respectively. Combined sales of Wii U software totaled 24.40 million units.

Wii U sales are still lagging well behind the original Wii. As of March 31, it had only sold just over 9.5 million units worldwide, while the Wii has sold over 100 million (PDF link).

Looking toward the next fiscal year, Nintendo expects to make a profit of ¥35 billion ($293 million). The company is expecting its deal with DeNA to sell smartphone games to be a nice new source of revenue, and expects new Amiibo cards and yarn-knitted Amiibo figures to increase Amiibo sales.

Nintendo also has other plans for diversification in the works. Today it announced that it will bring Nintendo-themed rides and attractions to Universal theme parks.

Former Contributor

Kris Wouk is a tech writer, gadget reviewer, blogger, and whatever it's called when someone makes videos for the web. In his…

Topics

Gaming

Watch Nintendo’s Satoru Iwata predict the future of consoles 20 years ago

Nintendo's Satoru Iwata: Lost Interview 20th Anniversary Remaster

Beloved former President of Nintendo Satoru Iwata said many profound and memorable things throughout his career, but thanks to a reuploaded and remastered Kikizo interview from E3 2004, we have even more.

Gaming

The biggest gaming news of 2023: Insomniac leak, GTA 6 reveal, and more

Lucia and her partner rob a store in GTA 6.

2023 was a roller coaster for the video games industry. On the software side, it was a historic year for new releases. We got everything from big success stories like Baldur's Gate 3 and The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom to memorable indies in Venba and Chants of Sennaar. But from the business side, 2023 was a lot more tumultuous. While some notable studio acquisitions and game announcements happened, thousands of developers were laid off, entire studios were shut down or hacked, and the provider of one of the most popular game engines landed in hot water after trying to roll out a controversial change.

The most notable gaming news stories of 2023 run the gamut from genuinely exciting to thoroughly disappointed. That speaks to a video game industry bound to head into an odd 2024 that lacks the known quantity bombshells of this year and continues to reel from layoffs. In last year's iteration of this article, my editor said that the 2020s are shaping up to be "the most pivotal decade in gaming history when all is said and done." If this year is anything to go by, that will almost certainly be true. These were the gaming stories that defined 2023, for better and much worse.
The Wii U and 3DS eShops shut down

Gaming

Play these 3DS and Wii U games before Nintendo shutters their online features

Captain Falcon in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U.

In April 2024, Nintendo will discontinue online services across its Wii U and 3DS consoles. While the eShops for both systems were shut down in March 2023, this will remove the online functionality of many apps and games, making gaming on either of these platforms an almost entirely offline experience. As a result, many games on those systems will lose important features and never be quite the same to play afterward. So, you'll need to get some gaming time in by next April if you want to refresh and preserve the memories of playing online on these two underdog Nintendo platforms.
While the aforementioned eShop closures make it impossible to buy new games digitally, plenty of games that you likely already own physical copies of or already had downloaded have online features that won't work properly come April 2024. As such, we recommend you play the following games online before the discontinuation of those services next year.
Kid Icarus Uprising

Kid Icarus Uprising is mostly remembered for its entertaining story, charismatic characters, and odd controls, but it also features a surprisingly fun multiplayer experience in Together Mode. In multiplayer, up to six players can use powerful weapons and abilities from the main adventure in one of two modes. Free-for-all lets players loose on a map, tasking them with racking up the most kills within a set time limit. Light vs. Dark is more complex, as two teams of three face off until enough players are defeated that one respawns as an angel; when that powered-up angel is killed, the match is over.
While far from balanced, Kid Icarus Uprising's Together Mode is one of the most entertaining competitive multiplayer experiences exclusive to 3DS. It can be played locally, using bots to fill in empty spots, so thankfully it won't stop working entirely. Still, it's not easy in 2023 to come across multiple people near you who have copies of Kid Icarus Uprising and want to play. As such, check out this cult classic 3DS game's hidden gem of a mode before praying that the rumors of a remaster eventually become true.
Nintendo Badge Arcade