Following earlier conversations about the role the 3DS would play in a post-Switch industry, Nintendo now says that it has plans to support the 3DS into and beyond 2019.
Currently, the 7-year-old handheld platform has sold 72 million units across its various models and Nintendo says it plans to continue to leverage that install base in the coming years. During a presentation to investors, Nintendo president Tatsumi Kimishima said that the company is still looking at ways it can drive hardware and software sales, noting that Nintendo is currently “preparing new software for release in 2019 and beyond.”
Right now, the company has a handful of games like Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker, WarioWare Gold, and a Luigi’s Mansion rerelease due out for the system in 2018, with Mario & Luigi: Bowser’s Inside Story + Bowser Jr’s Journey slated for a 2019 release.
Kimishima also notes that the 3DS has a library of over 1,000 games between both digital and physical releases and that Nintendo is currently looking at ways to drive both hardware and software sales going forward.
“We will continue the Nintendo 3DS business by leveraging its installed base and rich software library,” said Kimishima. “We believe it is important to leverage the rich library of Nintendo 3DS series titles to drive sales with existing Nintendo 3DS owners as well as with consumers who recently purchased the Nintendo 3DS hardware, and are investigating strategies for doing so.”
Earlier this year, Nintendo leadership addressed concerns about how the 3DS would fit into its company following the Switch's success since the portable nature of the Switch gave it some level overlap with Nintendo’s own dedicated handheld system.
At the time, Kimishima noted that the 3DS was still profitable and expressed hopes that “consumers will embrace it together with Nintendo Switch," something that now looks to be reflected in the company's release calendar.