Nintendo Switch Is GameStop’s “Most Successful Nintendo Launch Ever;” a “Massive Success”

During GameSpot’s quarterly financial conference call hosted today, Chief Executive Officer Paul Raines, Chief Operating Officer Tony Bartel and Chief Financial Officer Robert Lloyd talked about the performance of the Nintendo Switch.

Raines started by mentioning that the console has been a “massive success,” generating a growth in hardware sales for the retailer by 14.8% year-on-year. We also hear that the Switch has been GameStop’s “Most Successful Nintendo Launch Ever.”

Attach rates have been “consistently high” with over 5-to-1 since launch (it’s worth mentioning that Gamestop historically counts accessories in the attach rate, not just games). The company expects “healthy” allocation of Switch units for the second half of the year.

We also hear that GameStop believes that the high demand for the Switch demonstrates that consumers’ appetite for games is healthy, and as a bonus Raines mentioned that Nintendo’s SNES Classic Mini generated “very high demand” this week.

Lloyd added later in the call that consumer demand for the Switch continues to be strong. He also mentioned that hardware in the third quarter of the fiscal year will be still driven by the demand and allocation of Nintendo Switch units.

Bartel also piled on his own insight, explaining that while GameStop had the largest Switch market share of all retailers, Nintendo allocated units below the company’s usual market share.

That being said, the retailer continues to see strong demand for the Switch, and allocation sells out in a matter of days after being made available. GameStop believes that this will continue throughout the Holidays.

A couple of weeks ago, GameStop received a sizable shipment of Switch consoles, and ran a special promotions offering more trade credit for other consoles to those who purchased Nintendo’s platform.