Nintendo’s financial results for the latest fiscal year are out, covering the Japanese giant’s annual performance up to March 31st, 2024. Over that year, and across its myriad revenue streams, the company generated ¥1.67 trillion ($10.8 billion) in net sales.
Over this past year, Nintendo’s many successes include The Super Mario Bros. Movie and Switch title The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, but as for mobile, any recent victories are much less apparent.
In fact, in its financial results Nintendo has conglomerated mobile earnings and "IP related business" into one figure totalling ¥92.7 billion ($600.2 million). This represents a mighty year-on-year increase of 81.6%, but Nintendo has stated this comes "mainly" from the Mario blockbuster.
The ambiguous nature of its mobile earnings may raise eyebrows, therefore, especially as Nintendo’s mobile library has dwindled over the past few years (unlicenced Delta emulator aside).
Platforming ahead
Nintendo’s total net sales rose 4.4% from ¥1.6 trillion ($10.4 billion) in financial year 2023 to ¥1.67 trillion ($10.8 billion) in financial year 2024, while net profit rose 13.4% from ¥432.7 billion ($2.8 billion) to ¥490.6 billion ($3.2 billion).
78.3% of this fiscal year’s net sales came from outside of Japan, and though hardware sales fell 12.6% year-on-year, digital sales were up 9.4%. The year’s overall rise was therefore predominantly due to Switch software, mobile revenue, and the Mario movie.
Though, again, the latter two are muddied together into one result totalling ¥92.7 billion ($600.2 million) in "visual content, smart-device content and royalties". In the 2023 fiscal year - before the Mario movie’s release - this category generated ¥51 billion ($330.6 million).
The timing of this 81.6% rise in the year of the blockbuster film, then, whilst no new mobile games launched and Mario Kart Tour officially stopped receiving new content, makes it clear that Nintendo’s mobile ambitions are a waning priority as the company explores other paths.
2017’s Fire Emblem Heroes remains Nintendo’s most lucrative mobile game, currently in its eighth year with over $1 billion behind it - Nintendo’s only mobile game without the Pokémon brand attached to do so. But the latest financial report gives no mention to Fire Emblem Heroes or any other individual mobile title, making Nintendo’s current stance clear.
