It’s no secret that Nintendo Switch has become a global success, with 68 million consoles sold halfway through its lifecycle and sales growing week after week even in countries where Nintendo previously didn’t have much of a presence. Well, Reggie Fils-Aimé, former head of Nintendo of America, recently weighed in on the subject in a recent Twitch appearance.
In the livestream, he acknowledged that Nintendo Switch has become a “make-or-break product” for the Big N in the wake of Wii U’s poor sales performance. Here’s what he had to say:
You know, Nintendo has made so many innovations in the video game space… I think what Nintendo did with Switch, after the poor performance of Wii U, I think for me and what I was a part of is a lasting memory.
People forget, when Wii U launched, the performance during that lifecycle was so poor, I mean I think maybe Virtual Boy had less sales, but Wii U underperformed the market by quite a bit.
And when your only business is video games, the next thing had to be successful and Switch continues to be a dynamic platform, selling exceptionally well. And the company’s ability to come up with the concept, bring it to life, bring it to market, not only have excellent in-house content, but also excellent content from indie and third party developers; that will be something I’ll always be proud of.
Along with a lot of other things I was a part of, but Switch really was a key product for the company and fortunately it’s been a success.