Kyuu said:
curl-6 said:
Covid economics benefitted Switch in the short term by driving up demand for entertainment during lockdown, but in the long term the downturn followed the boom and the inflation that followed forced a price hike and reduced people's disposable income during Switch 1's closing years.
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The long term ramifications affected everyone but Switch benefited overall.
The current economics seem to favor Sony's approach because they're not in as much need to sell you new hardware.
HebrewGamer said:
You would need to clarify what you mean by "digital sales" If you're not including in-game purchases of any kind. I would also need to see that data.
We can't make the determination if mobile gaming has or has not replaced consoles due to how well the Switch did(due almost exclusively to the success of Animal Crossing New Horizons). Microsoft is out of the running and Sony got a huge boost this past holiday due to a major price cut to $400. Point being, when people talk about how the pandemic brought in more gamers, Mobile gaming is where they went. COD mobile and Genshin Impact were smash hits in 2020.
Being a handheld is indeed a selling point, but they're offering you a significantly weaker system where many major 3rd party titles are either missing or run like $%@# on the system. You can't beat Mario, Zelda, and Pokemon though. The last 3rd party game to carry a Nintendo platform was Tetris for the Gameboy. The Switch has 21 games that sold 10 million or more(soon to be 22 with SMPJ at 9.96). ALL of them are Nintendo's games. The only thing the Switch does is play games and without compelling game titles, there's no reason for people to buy a substantially weaker and less capable system where most major 3rd party titles aren't on the platform, even if you can play on the go.
BTW, someone mentioned how the original Xbox had a DVD player. It did. The problem is you needed an add-on accessory to use it which was sold separately.
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I can't do a like for like comparison because these platforms peak in different periods.
Nintendo FY 2020 (their all time peak year thanks to COVID + AC New Horizons):
https://x.com/ZhugeEX/status/1390210514102403073
1.76 trillion yen x 0.46 (Digital Software + Physical + Add-on + Services %) = 0.809 trillion yen.
Playstation FY 2024:
https://tech4gamers.com/playstation-hardware-revenue-driver/
4.67 x 0.2 (Digital Software %) = 0.934 trillion yen.
Physical + Add-on (MTX, DLC, etc) + Services add 46%
4.67 x 0.46 = 2.1482
Sony's total software = 3.0822
Totals:
Nintendo 2020 = 0.809 trillion yen
Playstation 2024 = 3.082 trillion yen
And now I have a severe headache!
The yen was much stronger in 2020/2021, so converting to USD favors Nintendo 2020, but it's not going to move the needle enough to make it much less lopsided. I couldn't find Nintendo's revenue breakdowns beyond FY 2020.
Your 3rd paragraph is mostly correct. The Switch isn't as popular as Playstation in some metrics because its overall library isn't as compelling to the masses. Most 3rd party fans are divided between Playstation, Steam, and Xbox and will remain there for a long long time. I'm not telling you that Playstation "shouldn't" be more popular in software, of course it too has its unique selling points (especially vs Nintendo) that explain its domination in some metrics. Playstation is the go to console brand for 3rd party games, and this will probably remain true throughout Switch 2's life and beyond.
But the Switch, with its inherent compromises, was the perfect console for Nintendo. Sacrificing portability for higher specs and better 3rd party support would have been a terrible decision. So the move to go hybrid was in no way shape or form a mistake limiting its success or potential! Some of you make it sound like choosing to have too many "competitors" is a mistake of sorts! The Switch 1 was a unique platform thanks to its form factor and 1st party exclusives aided by decent 3rd party support (it in fact has more 3rd party games than PS4 or PS5... but a fewer so called "must haves" that appeal to the masses, and of course its versions of notable multiplats are typically inferior and late ports).
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I don't get it. This is what I've been saying. Most of Nintendo's money comes from the sale of the hardware and software, whereas Sony's money comes from MTX. This is literally what the data you provided says. I said this already.
According to your charts, 47% of their gaming revenue comes from the sales of their hardware and software(HW, physical and digital game sales). 54% is MTX and services, compared to Nintendo at 11%. The biggest chunk of that revenue for Sony is, you guessed it, MTX.
But Profit is where the bread is buttered. You can generate all the revenue you want. If you don't turn a profit, you go out of business.
Nintendo profits in FY2021(April 1, 2020 to March 31, 2021): 480B yen
Playstation profits for FY2024((April 1, 2024 to March 31, 2025: 414B yen
FY2021 wasn't Nintendo's best year. FY2024(ending March31, 2024) was where they made 490B yen in profit. This was 3 years after the pandemic and due to TOTK selling at $70 throughout that year(10 million sold in 3 days) as well as the Super Mario movie, Pikmin 4, and Super Mario Wonder(which went head-to-head with Spiderman 2 and Sonic Superstars releasing on the same day).
Last edited by HebrewGamer - on 18 May 2026
