Nintendo’s stock price slumped nearly 6% on Monday following reports last weekend that the launch of its next games console has been delayed to 2025.
The successor to the Nintendo Switch will reportedly launch early next year, following a delay.
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Key Takeaways
- The video game giant’s share price dropped to $55.72 (¥8,356) on Monday, down 5.86% from Friday.
- Monday’s drop follows reports over the weekend from gaming media and Bloomberg that the launch of the highly anticipated successor to the Nintendo Switch has been delayed to early next year.
- Brazilian journalist Pedro Henrique Lutti Lippe was the first to report the delay, which was corroborated by gaming news outlet Eurogamer that reported the hold up was to ensure a strong line-up of games for the new system at launch.
- Bloomberg reported several game publishers had also been informed about the delay and now expect the console to launch around March 2025—still technically within the 2024 financial year for the company.
- The delay will likely be a major financial blow for Nintendo as the company will miss the important holiday sales period—usually the biggest time of the year for game console sales.
Key Background
Nintendo has given few details about the launch of its next console. If the March 2025 expectations are accurate, the console, which is yet to be named, will launch eight years after Nintendo’s current console, the Switch. The new system is expected to build on the Switch’s unique hybrid design and be powered by a chip made by Nvidia. The Switch is one of the best-selling consoles of all time and its design allows it to be played as a portable device with a screen (like a tablet or handheld console) or connected to the TV (like a traditional home console), but the system’s sales have slowed down. Aside from “Princess Peach: Showtime!” which releases in March, the aging console’s lineup for the rest of the year is filled with remakes of old titles and no new blockbusters like last year’s “Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom” and “Super Mario Bros. Wonder”.
Big Number
122.55 million. That’s how many Switch consoles have been sold, the company disclosed earlier this month in its latest earnings report. This makes the Switch the third highest-selling console of all time behind Sony’s PlayStation 2 and the Nintendo DS.
This article was first published on forbes.com and all figures are in USD.
