TOKYO — Nintendo reported a massive profit – 428% – from April-June while people are stuck at home during the coronavirus pandemic.
The Japanese manufacturer of Pokemon and Super Mario games, as well as the Switch console, reported Thursday an operating profit of 144.7 billion yen – $1.4 billion USD – in the fiscal first quarter, up from $27.4 billion yen last year.
Quarterly sales at Kyoto-based Nintendo jumped, doubling to 358 billion yen ($3.4 billion) on-year.
Especially popular was franchise tentpole “Animal Crossing: New Horizons,” which sold 10 million units during that period, reaching cumulative sales of 22 million. "New Horizons," the first entry in the "Animal Crossing" franchise since 2012, released in March and is already the 2nd best-selling Nintendo Switch game of all time, according to reports, overtaking such popular Nintendo releases as "The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild," "Super Mario Odyssey" and even "Pokémon Sword" and "Pokémon Shield."
“Ring Fit Adventure,” which has players exercising while jogging in place holding a ring that works as controller, has sold 4 million units since its release in October.
Sales of the Nintendo Switch console, as well as the Nintendo Switch Lite console, jumped approximately 167% – 5.68 million units.
Nintendo said various online games in its lineup, including mobile games like "Mario Kart Tour" and "Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp," were also drawing more people.
Although the coronavirus outbreak has swamped economies in the worst contraction since the Great Depression, some businesses like Nintendo are thriving.
Japanese and electronic and entertainment conglomerate Sony Corp., which also has a game unit with its PlayStation series, also reported positive results earlier this week.
Other technology companies, such as Apple and Facebook, are reaping the benefits of people turning in droves to online activities.
Nintendo acknowledged COVID-19 had caused a shortage in parts to produce the Switch, but such problems were being gradually fixed.
The company stuck to its previous forecast for a 200 billion yen ($1.9 billion) profit for the fiscal year through March 2021. That’s slightly lower than the nearly 259 billion yen Nintendo earned the previous fiscal year.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.