It’s interesting to see how the world of gaming evolves through its creators. 2018 was another great example of how things can evolve and grow. For Nintendo, their console the Switch has been doing great in sales despite a back-half heavy software release schedule. The console is easily over 25 million units sold, and software sales are through the roof. On the surface, you might think that this confirms the Big N’s place in hardware development. But…
…the President of the company doesn’t seem to think that way. He did an interview with Nikkei, and in it, he said the following:
“We aren’t really fixated on our consoles,” Furukawa told Nikkei. “At the moment we’re offering the uniquely developed Nintendo Switch and its software – and that’s what we’re basing how we deliver the ‘Nintendo experience’ on. That being said, technology changes. We’ll continue to think flexibly about how to deliver that experience as time goes on.”
Now, granted, this isn’t saying that they won’t make consoles in the future. But he is saying that they aren’t rooted in consoles solely, which is true. They’re working on building their mobile lineup, with hopefully multiple titles coming out this year for phones. They’re also looking to expand their visibility through theme parks and other business ventures.
It is curious though given the Switch’s success that he would say something like this. We’ll have to see how this develops.
