Nintendo powers to record profit after blockbuster ‘Legend of Zelda’ game debut

Nintendo Co. hit a new high for first-quarter profit after the suc-cessful launch of its latest Legend of Zelda game propped up flagging sales of its Switch console.

The Kyoto-based company reported operating profit of ¥185.44 billion ($1.3 billion), surpassing analyst estimates and its previous April-June quarterly high of ¥144.7 billion, set in 2020. Sales were ¥461.34 billion, significantly up from the year-earlier result of ¥307.5 billion.

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Powering the strong figures was ‘The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom’ released to widespread critical acclaim in May. The latest instalment sold more than 10 million copies in its first three days and rekindled interest in the six-year-old portable gaming platform. A Zelda-themed Switch console released with the soft-ware also helped push up hardware sales.

The outstanding question for Nintendo is what further steps it will take in the coming months to sustain the boost. The company has not announced any marquee games for the rest of the fiscal year through March, leaving it relying on established titles for the criti-cal year-end shopping season. Rival console makers Sony Group Corp. and Microsoft Corp. are gearing up for that period with am-ple hardware supply and major game releases in the works.

The Switch was released in 2017 and Nintendo President Shuntaro Furukawa has said sustaining its momentum will not be easy. The company has so far declined to discuss a successor to its flagship console, more than two years after Sony and Microsoft refreshed their hardware.

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