About 24 million Switch 2 consoles have sold since the June 2025 launch, but Nintendo still needs fresh exclusives to persuade owners of the original Switch’s 156 million-unit base to upgrade.
Nintendo is pairing the game with a sold-out 40th anniversary Zelda-themed Switch 2 and broader franchise expansion, including a Zelda concert and movie planned for next year.
The bet comes as memory shortages lifted the Switch 2 price to $500 in September and US console hardware spending is down 9% this year, even as Nintendo’s gross profit rose 52% on movie-related income.
GTA VI looms as a rival launch, but analysts say Nintendo’s bigger challenge is sustaining an aging fanbase and selling premium-priced games in a market increasingly pulled toward free-to-play hits.