Nintendo sold 6.49 million Switch 2 consoles in the six months to September 30, 2026, the company reported in its consolidated financial results released November 5. The sales came with a sharp rise in profitability: operating profit climbed 49.1% year over year to 216.5 billion yen, while net sales fell 12.1% to 966.0 billion yen.
Switch 2 hardware and software keep growing
Hardware reached 6.49 million units for the half, and software for the platform totaled 24.49 million units, which works out to roughly 3.8 games sold per console during the period. Three first-half releases drove that software number. Star Fox, released in June, sold 1.17 million copies. Splatoon Raiders, released in July, sold 2.42 million. Fire Emblem: Fortune’s Weave, released in September, sold 1.34 million. Mario Kart World and Pokémon Pokopia, both from the previous fiscal year, kept selling well and padded the total. Pokopia is sold by The Pokémon Company in Japan and by Nintendo outside of Japan.
Splatoon Raiders is the clear breakout, outselling Star Fox by more than two to one.
How profit rose while sales fell
Net sales dropped 12.1% because the year-ago period included the Switch 2 launch rush, so hardware unit sales were lower this time around. Operating profit rose 49.1%. Software made up a larger share of total sales this half, and software carries healthier margins than hardware. Nintendo also booked a refund of U.S. IEEPA tariffs it had earlier recorded as cost of sales, which cut cost of sales from 701.1 billion yen a year ago to 479.6 billion yen. Gross profit rose from 398.5 billion yen to 486.5 billion yen even as revenue shrank.
Ordinary profit reached 300.6 billion yen, up 27.4%, helped by 60.8 billion yen in profit from equity-method companies and 26.7 billion yen in interest income. Profit attributable to owners came to 220.9 billion yen, up 11.0%, and profit per share rose to 191.63 yen from 170.87 yen a year earlier. Comprehensive income, which adds currency and investment swings, rose 20.8% to 231.7 billion yen, and net assets stood at 2,983.5 billion yen.
The original Switch keeps selling
Nintendo moved 1.27 million Switch units and 65.73 million Switch games in the half, as the seven-year-old console keeps selling alongside its successor. Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream, released in April, hit 8.81 million units, and Rhythm Heaven Groove, released in July, reached 2.89 million. Backward compatibility keeps that library moving, since Switch titles play on Switch 2, so older games from past fiscal years also posted stable sales. The Switch’s 65.73 million software units still dwarf the Switch 2’s 24.49 million.
Digital and the movie business
Digital sales rose 60.5% year over year to 249.6 billion yen, driven mostly by downloadable versions of packaged software. The IP-related business, which covers films and licensing, grew 87.9% to 62.7 billion yen on the strength of The Super Mario Galaxy Movie. Sales outside Japan accounted for 762.4 billion yen, or 78.9% of the total. That exposure showed up on the income statement, where foreign exchange swung to a 7.3 billion yen loss from an 18.5 billion yen gain a year earlier.
Stocking up for the holidays
Inventories rose to 814.6 billion yen as of September 30, up from 539.8 billion yen at the March 31 fiscal year-end, while cash and deposits dipped from 1,791.8 billion yen to 1,553.9 billion yen. Total assets climbed to 3,936.5 billion yen, and total liabilities rose to 952.9 billion yen, mostly on higher notes and accounts payable.
What comes next
Nintendo left its full-year forecast unchanged from the May 8 projection, targeting 2,050.0 billion yen in net sales and 370.0 billion yen in operating profit for the year ending March 31, 2027. Nintendo said it aims to grow the Switch 2 installed base by expanding sales of existing titles while introducing new ones, with third-party publishers also lining up releases. October brought the Zelda 40th Anniversary Edition console and Nintendo Switch Sports Resort, November brought The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, and Metroid Ravenous is scheduled for January. Nintendo has also kept filling the schedule with events like a Pikmin Day Direct that locked in a Pikmin 4 Switch 2 Edition for November 12. The second-quarter dividend rose to 76 yen per share from 42 yen a year earlier, and Nintendo forecast an 86 yen year-end dividend for a 162 yen annual total.
