Flying start. Photo: Eugene Gologursky (Getty Images)
Global sales of two Nintendo Switch games, Pokémon Scarlet and Pokémon Violet, exceeded 10 million units in the first three days of their worldwide release on November 18, 2022.
Reports of issues clearly haven’t dampened the allure of the first open-world game in the 24-year-old series. “This is the highest global sales level for any software on any Nintendo platform within the first three days,” the company said in a Nov. 23 press release.
But it’s best not to expect too many new blockbuster announcements from the rest of the industry. Nintendo’s success is a breakthrough in a year in which video games have lost their luster. The company raised forecasts for a weaker Japanese yen, but its rivals are suffering from the strong dollar. And the taxation of economic conditions weighs heavily on consumers. For most game makers, including Nintendo, their biggest releases are either behind them or not planned for this Christmas.
Nintendo’s success, in numbers
10 million: Sales of Pokémon Scarlet and Pokémon Violet games for Nintendo Switch in the first three days of their global release on November 18
96%: Share of Japan’s top 10 physical game sales represented by Pokémon Scarlet and Pokémon Violet this week
2 million: Sales of the latest Pokémon titles, Pokémon Sword and Shield, in the first two days (when they were released three years ago, there were fewer Nintendo Switch owners)
111 million: Nintendo Switch consoles sold between their launch in March 2017 and August 2022.
11%: Nintendo shares up this year, outperforming Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225
10-for-1: Nintendo’s September stock split finally delivers what investors have been asking for for years. This lowered the price and increased the investor base
Charted: The overall video game market is down
Why it’s not a good time for video games in general
🏘️ The peaks of the pandemic video game boom are unmatched
💵 The strong dollar has caused companies like FIFA developer Electronic Arts to cut their forecasts
🏷 Video game prices are going up. In a September interview with Axios, Ubisoft said it would increase the prices of its core titles to $70 from the typical $40-60. In 2020, Sony CEO Jim Ryan said that the $70 price was fair when you consider the “hours of entertainment” provided by video games compared to any other form of entertainment.
✋ There are no new, exciting, big holiday releases planned by major video game companies like EA, Take-Two Interactive, Ubisoft Entertainment SA and Microsoft. “This holiday season is set to be a natural decline just from a quantitative perspective,” Jefferies analyst Andrew Werkwitz told Yahoo Finance. “If you look at the number of games from last year to this year, it’s actually gone down. There have been over 100 postponed games in the last 24 months. And these are publicly announced delays.”
📈 Games are not immune to macroeconomic pressures such as rising inflation and the cost of living
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