TOKYO - Nintendo shares tumbled after reports that the company was pushing back the launch of its Switch successor to the beginning of 2025.

The shares dropped as much as 8.8 per cent in Tokyo on Feb 19, their biggest intraday decline since October 2021, before ending down 5.8 per cent.

The company told its game publishing partners that the release of the next-generation video game console will be delayed to the early months of 2025 from the last quarter of 2024, Bloomberg News reported.

Some of Nintendo’s partners were advised not to expect the still-unannounced console until March 2025 at the earliest.

Investors may further unload Nintendo shares after having pushed the stock to an all-time high last week on expectations that the company will replace the seven-year-old Switch with a new machine in 2024.

“There seem to be a lot of new buyers of Nintendo who may be less familiar with the name and more impatient for the company to put up visible numbers,” said Mr Mio Kato of LightStream Research.

“Nintendo’s numbers for the March 2025 fiscal year could start to look rather ugly if key software is delayed at the same time that the current hardware has aged so much.”

Nintendo is seen holding back its future slate of blockbuster game releases for the next-generation hardware, which adds to the downside of any delay.

Software is the most lucrative part of the company’s business, but it is unlikely to release new entries in its biggest franchises such as Legend of Zelda, Mario and Splatoon before the upgrade, said Dr Serkan Toto, who is a Tokyo-based consultant to video game developers.

Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa deflected questions about new hardware in February after Nintendo reported earnings, saying the company will discuss its plans for the next fiscal year after it concludes the current one.

He added that selling more of the existing console will be challenging, with 139 million units sold already.

Without a Switch 2 for the holiday season, Nintendo will battle much newer and more capable consoles from Sony Group and Microsoft.

Still, some investors may see further declines in Nintendo’s share price as an opportunity to buy on a dip, according to Bernstein analyst Robin Zhu.

He expects an announcement for the new hardware to come within the next six months. BLOOMBERG