Nintendo has shared its financial results for the three months ending on December 31. For those unaware, these three months are the third quarter of Nintendo"s fiscal year 2021, which ends on March 31, 2021. The company posted a profit of 521.11 billion yen ($4.96 billion), which is 98.2% higher than the same period of 2019.
Naturally, these numbers were driven by sales of the Nintendo Switch and its games. Third-quarter sales of the Nintendo Switch were 11.56 million units, with 8.40 million of those being regular Nintendo Switch models and 3.16 million being from the Nintendo Switch Lite. This takes the lifetime sales of the Nintendo Switch to 79.87 million, meaning the Nintendo Switch has now outsold the Nintendo 3DS, which sits at 75.94 million.
Back in November, Nintendo had forecast 24 million Switch units sold for the entire fiscal year, but these results already break that number, having reached 24.10 million. As such, it has revised its forecast to 26.50 million units, meaning it expects to sell 2.40 million this quarter. Nintendo recently announced a special Mario edition of the Switch to launch alongside Super Mario 3D World + Bowser"s Fury, as well as another special edition to go along with Monster Hunter Rise, which should help it reach those numbers. If it does, the Nintendo Switch will have outsold another Nintendo system, the Game Boy Advance, in three months" time. The handheld launched in 2001 sold 81.51 million units in its lifetime.
Of course, hardware is only one part of it, and software sales were also strong for Nintendo. Overall 29 Switch games have sold more than one million units this fiscal year, 20 of which are published by Nintendo. The best-selling title this fiscal year continues to be Animal Crossing: New Horizons, with 19.41 million units sold, for lifetime sales of 31.18 million. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, which launched shortly after the Switch itself in 2017, has sold 8.64 million units this year and it"s still the Switch"s best-selling title at 33.41 million units. Super Mario 3D All-Stars, which launched on September 18, has sold 8.32 million units, which was bound to happen considering the title is only available until March 21, 2021. Another notable launch this quarter was Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity, which has sold 2.84 million units in Europe and North America. The title is published by Koei Tecmo in Japan, so Nintendo doesn"t share sales data for it directly. Koei Tecmo has said 3.5 million units have been sold, which includes both Japanese and overseas numbers.
Six of Nintendo"s games have now crossed 20 million units sold since launch. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Pokémon Sword and Shield, and Super Mario Odyssey have all passed the milestone, along with the aforementioned Animal Crossing: New Horizons and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe.
The first quarter of the year is the slowest for most businesses, since the holiday season has come and gone. With new special editions of the Switch and a lineup of games including Super Mario 3D World + Bowser"s Fury, Bravely Default II, and Monster Hunter Rise, Nintendo could still have some solid results in the next three months. We"ll have to wait for the earnings report, which is likely coming one month after the fiscal year ends on March 31.