Blog: Nintendo

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The games market will grow by 4.6% in 2025 – in line with the global inflation rate

Cover image for The games market will grow by 4.6% in 2025 – in line with the global inflation rate
Rhys Elliott
We just published our flagship games report MIDiA Research’s Global Games Forecasts 2025–2031 and its accompanying dataset. What you need to know: The games market is mature , so double-digit growth is a fantasy and the industry will only see slight growth going forward The global number of gamers will keep growing , but ARPPU will slightly decrease over time due to growing gamer numbers in emerging markets The oversaturation of live services will see the developer pendulum swing back towards premium games on console and PC The mega-budget strategy will slowdown in favour of shorter budgets – outside of the live-service incumbents and a few select “prestige” studios Multi-game subscription user growth is reaching maturity , though revenues will grow via pricing increases (and perhaps ad-based tiers) in the future The report dives into player forecasts , revenue forecasts for software (full-game advertising, and in-game split by cosmetics and progress-based) , hardware (console and XR), and subscriptions – all up to 2031, with platform and regional splits.
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Switch 2 FAQs: Your cheat sheet for understanding Nintendo's upcoming console

Cover image for Switch 2 FAQs: Your cheat sheet for understanding Nintendo's upcoming console
Rhys Elliott
As we said in our games trends to watch article , 2025 will be the year of the portable. Nintendo kicked that off in earnest, finally lifting the curtain on its Switch 2 console. Here are the basics: The Switch 2 seems iterative – a bigger, better Switch with some quality-of-life improvements It is coming out in 2025 It plays Switch 1 games too, both physical and digital Nintendo will announce its software lineup on April 2, 2025 It will hold several in-person events across North America, Europe, Oceania, and Asia to build fandom and let fans go hands-on Our clients and the press have been sending us plenty of questions, so we decided to answer the most frequently asked here.
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Game budgets have gone out of control – let's shrink the scope

Cover image for Game budgets have gone out of control – let's shrink the scope
Rhys Elliott
AAA game development budgets and timelines for single-player games are getting out of hand. This was not always the case, but there has been an insidious creep over the past 20 years. While the cost of game development is a black box, leaks and disclosures around court cases and acquisitions show that budgets are now in the hundreds of millions for many AAA games.
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Embracing the cultural ascent of games: Zelda, Sony, and games-video symbiosis

Cover image for Embracing the cultural ascent of games: Zelda, Sony, and games-video symbiosis
Perry Gresham
Gaming has been mainstream for a while, but in recent years it has started flexing its cross-cultural muscles, intersecting with music, sports, and increasingly with video . The latest example is a new live-action movie, based on The Legend of Zelda games franchise, announced this week as a collaboration between Nintendo and Sony Pictures.
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What Switch’s Games Offering Tells Us About Nintendo’s Strategy

Karol Severin
Nintendo made a number of game title announcements in recent days and weeks. They include an array of game deployment models: an exclusive release of Arms; the first Pokemon-themed title Pokken Tournament; a Pokemon RPG game for Switch, as well as Nintendo’s own Super Mario Odyssey and third party games, like Rocket League or Fifa 18.
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