Is Nintendo Going Bankrupt if Switch Flops?

Every Nintendo fan is haunted by one compelling question: what will happen if say, by some unfortunate turn of event, Nintendo Switch flops?

[ApocalypseShadow]

From the article...

**Lastly, a flop is just a wild imagination for Nintendo Switch because as far as it goes, there is a high anticipation to this console. Gamers, developers or simple observers are looking forward to presumed release date in March. If this converts into Nintendo Switch sales, then all "what ifs" will be moot and academic.**

Why bother reading?

[stuna1]

You got to give the article credit. That was definitely an ingenious way of getting clicks lol.

[wonderfulmonkeyman]

Yeah, click bait incarnate, this one.
I would suggest no one here even approve this article.
But considering the anti-Nintendo nature of this site, I get the feeling it will get approved anyways.
That, or the ten or twenty people here with a grudge against me will see this comment and approve the article out of spite.XD

[remixx116]

@monkey

Haha definitely the second part

[bouzebbal]

Nintendo fanboys talking about clickbait... Hmmm..
Seriously, the article can be as stupid as you want, the idea is relevant !
If the switch flops, then what ?? Nintendo for sure won't go bankrupt, but they might become the new Sega if things turn out ugly.
I do not believe switch will be a massive hit but I hope I'm wrong.

[ABizzel1]

Bankrupt No. Continued Big 3 Console manufacturer, in jeopardy.

[freshslicepizza]

@Apocalypse Shadow
"Why bother reading?"

well because hype doesn't always generate success, look at the first titanfall for example. gaming is nintendos bread and butter, how many failures can nintendo survive? it's not like they can sell operating systems or life insurance to cover losses.

[Eonjay]

Titanfall is a bad example in my opinion. First, one has to ask why EA did what it did in the first place. EA basically destroyed Titanfall every chance it got. It cut the original sales in half essentially and then tried to sabotage Call of Duty with the double header but just wound up sabotaging Titanfall with Battlefield 1. And Call of Duty still sold more than both of EA's games combined.

[MaximusTKG]

Shouldnt really matter given the sheer amount of cash assets Nintendo has. They could bail themselves out about 5 times

[_-EDMIX-_]

Agreed.

[OtakuDJK1NG-Rory]

no

[LOL_WUT]

Who knows? All people want is for them to deliver. Things happen for a reason ;)

[Fist4achin]

I doubt bankrupt, but the gamers won't support it if the games are not there.

[morganfell]

No one has asked what happened to all the money they made on the Wii. The thing sold like the cure for cancer and Ninty didn't use the money to support it or the Wii U.

[Gemmol]

people ignore how much money Nintendo have, because it help them sleep at night.......they are far from bankrupt

[Derceto]

It will flop. It will not bankrupt Nintendo.

[Poseph]

No, it won't flop and yes it won't bankrupt Nintendo.

[kneon]

I'm also expecting it to flop after the initial surge of fans buy it. And then when it fails the only course of action left is for them to go multiplatform.

[RosweeSon]

Only another 5 years to wait then... in vain. Not gonna happen any time soon.

[kneon]

I'm not waiting, I don't care as I can't think of any of their games that I would bother buying. But there are others that would buy them if they were available without having to buy their wonky tablet/console.

[CorndogBurglar]

Multiplat isnt the only other option.

They could finally realize that gamers just want a gaming system rather than gimmicks and then make something like a Gamecube 2.

Having said that, Switch isn't really nearly as gimmicky as the Wii's were. If you want it to just be a home console, it can be that. If you want it to be a portable system it can be that too.

If all the rumors are true, as well as the price, then Switch should do just fine.

[PhoenixUp]

Nintendo still makes a lot more than Sega did when they exited the hardware market, so going bankrupt is unlikely

[RosweeSon]

I'd like to know who's disagreeing to that as Nintendo clearly have more going on that Sega, sure Sega had loads of attachements 32x and mega CD etc but they were All pretty big flops in grand scheme of things. Nintendo got home and handheld consoles a new console en route. New Zelda. Amiibo's. New Pokemon just launched, Mario IPhone. Mini nes... no doubt with a mini Snes being readied. All more importantly massive success and making major money. All sold out or selling very well and all for a profit. Bankrupt?! Oh the drama on here is hilarious.

[CorndogBurglar]

I agree.

And the Switch should do well.

[Segata]

SEGA didn't have money. They were hundreds of millions in the hole. Only thing that saved them from certain doom was the CEO passing away leaving his fortune to the company to keep them alive.

[phoenixwing]

for everyone stating doom and gloom. Keep in mind nintendo is making a profit even off of the wii-u. So basically they have wii profits + wiiu profits. So for them to go bankrupt is kind of ridiculous.

[sk8ofmnd]

How much profit can they be making off the wiiu if hardly anyone is buying them? Do you think game stores will let the stagnant console just sit there forever? The day the switch comes out is the day the wiiu deserves a hefty pricedrop PERIOD. If people arent buying the wiiu they def wont buy it with a switch for around the same price.

Mcstorm:

Except the ps4 and xb1 werent comming off the heals of a failed console (wiiu). The switch has much doubt and worrys surrounding it and for good reason.

[mcstorm]

Nintendo are not selling the wiiu any more as far as I'm aware all my local game stores don't stock it anymore and I'm sure Nintendo have also stopped making the console to.

I do love all this doom and gloom over Nintendo though it's funny when things like this come out. The same was said about the ps4 and Sony that if it was a flop sony would go under and if the Xbox one was a flop Microsoft would pull out the console business and the board won't support the Xbox brand. Loook at how all that turned out.

I think the switch is going to do very well most people I speak to are hyped about the switch and I even have friends who are not gamers but their littles ones are asking them about it.

For me I can't wait to see more on the console and I also think Nintendo have a good thing going with the switch. Nintendo imo don't want to be a me to company and just make a powerful home console that has the same games they want to offer something different. That said if you look at Nintendo's main market for the last 20 years it's the portable excluding the Wii. They know Japan loves portable consoles and the switch hits that spot and they know the USA and Europe is mixed in terms of handheld and home consoles but if sold right to both markets it could be a hit being able to play the same game your playing at home on the move to.

I am not saying it will be a hit or it will not be but for me I'm excited about the switch.

[phoenixwing]

@sk8

I just stated facts.They're making profits, i am not an investor or stockholder i just know they're alright, popular opinion aside.

[_-EDMIX-_]

@pho- "I just stated facts.They're making profits"

Ummm you stated have truths.

Making profit off of the hardware is not actually a strong indication of a company's financial situation....

That's like saying that I made a profit from selling a house , yet what we're talking about is the entire development, you're ignoring everything else that's being done and you're only focusing on the sale of the physical Hardware.

Did you forget that they were spending money on the development of games for years?

Did you forget they spent money on research and development or marketing?

Like I stated previously did you forget they assumed it would sell 100 million?

In order to truly calculate its success overall you have to factor in all the money that was invested for the entire project not simply looking at the hardware only, that makes ZERO sense, I'm pretty positive they spent money in other areas besides physically creating the platform.

Like you said you're not an investor so I understand why it's difficult to understand why that doesn't make any sense in regards to calculating a profit.

That is simply saying that they did not lose money on the creation of the hardware PHYSICALLY it does not mean that they didn't lose money in regards to research and development or marketing or game development based on assumptions of sales.

They thought they were going to sell 100 million so it is definitely in the realm of possibility that they invested in game development with an understanding that they would get a return through large sales of such an install base.

[superchiller]

Only in the wildest fanboy fantasies are Nintendo "making a profit" off the Wii U, the system is basically dead and not even available at retail to buy anymore. How can they make a profit off of something that isn't even sold anymore? SMH

[_-EDMIX-_]

"Keep in mind nintendo is making a profit even off of the wii-u."

???

That's not the only way to calculate the profit of a project.

You're not calculating research and development, marketing or the cost of game development....

They also believed they were going to sell 100 million units...

Sooo it's within the realm of possibility that they spend a lot of money marketing in developing titles with the Assumption of its success which means it's unknown if they were able to make a profit with this project, you only know of the profit from the physical Hardware, you don't know if they were able to profit from everything COMBINED regarding the platform.

[sk8ofmnd]

Naw not bankrupt, but i did hope if the wiiu flopped it would make nintendo give us a traditional console like the nes, snes, n64, and gamecube before it without gimmicks. Instead nintendo did what nintendo does... A system not focused on power and more focused on 1st party quality with that nintendo twist (gimmick) that started with the wii. The nintendo of yesteryear didnt need some gimmick to sell consoles. If the switch flops it will be too late for them to fall in line with a traditional console. And i think they know this with this "hybrid console" i think is them exiting the home console business. They have better luck with handhelds so its probably a smart move. Just dont expect it getting the third party love ($) it needs to stay a relevant third party player when for about the same price or cheaper you can get a superior version on other consoles. Dark Souls 3 on the switch will be 60$$ when for 25 you can get the xb1 or ps4 version.

[IxWoodstockxI]

I have a feeling it will be a Flop at least in the US. People love their PS4 or Xbox One too much. There is only a small percentage of people that own all consoles. I own all and I will be buying Nintendo Switch eventually.

[Sy_Wolf]

Of course not

[EddieNX]

Considering no, no.

[alfcrippinjr]

Nintendo.wont go bankrupt in asia but possible uk market would pull out
as it not worth selling there products here.

they did screw over people who bought there products.
which should not have happened
they should had left the wii for online connection and should had supported the ds xl more
but they simply killed them off after making the sales
except the wii u which is very powerful console but with programming the games and Nintendo strict rules in production of them
games company's got paid to bring out all these games for the wii u
but after it all done and the hype they where like not interested in it anymore to spend the amount of money and license
to product games for the wii u
which is a god dame shame as its looks a nice consoles system.

Nintendo dead consoles
wii
wii u
ds xl

[Moonman]

*Cringe*

[higgins78]

Nintendo, bankrupt? It would take about 10 or more 'flops' consecutively for this ever to even be a consideration. Guaranteed Microsoft leaves the home console market long before Nintendo ever does...mark my words.

[_-EDMIX-_]

Lol

Nope.

It might literally take one or two more.

It literally cost billions to roll out a new platform.

Do you just think that research and development along with marketing and game development is just free? Lol...No. I don't think their going bankrupt but I definitely see them getting out of the hardware Market.

"Guaranteed Microsoft leaves the home console market"

Yea....no. except Microsoft is actually more consistent in the Home console Market then Nintendo currently is.

Technically speaking Nintendo is already left the Home console Market if you consider their next platform the ruling out is actually a portable.....

Switch was not created to only run on the television exclusively.....

It's as much as a "home console" as the iPhone is.

[Segata]

I mean MS is halfway there with everything on Windows 10.

[Lennoxb63]

Not bankrupt but closer to bankruptcy than they've ever been before.

[Segata]

So, not close at all...

[Lennoxb63]

Closer than they've ever been. As in, the loss in profit between both the Wii U and Switch would take a large chunk out of their pocket. But not enough to put them in bankruptcy.

[Segata]

They made profit on Wii U. They have billions and billions of dollars. It's been proven Nintendo can take over a hundred million dollar loss for nearly 40 years before they are in trouble.

[Majin-vegeta]

Bankrupt??No but it would put Nintendo future at risk for releasing another home console.

[sk8ofmnd]

Wouldnt you say with the failed wiiu their future is already at risk? The wiiu did so bad MANY people are taking the wait and see approach. Hell it did so bad nintendo decided not to make another home console only machine. They seen their home console market drying up while their handheld market did great.

[_-EDMIX-_]

Might be why Switch is a portable

[DivineAssault]

nintendo is filthy rich.. They wont go bankrupt but might go 3rd party

[RosweeSon]

Yeah it's gonna suddenly evapourate over night. Look at Sega oh wait even they are still going. Sega don't even have the back catalogue Nintendo do so even if forced to go 3rd party which won't happen for another 5 years minimum being as their next console is being readied then Nintendo will do fine. They are no one trick pony. Mario, Zelda, Pokemon those 3 series alone will hopefully keep Nintendo in business long after I've gone and I'm only 30 ;) ✌🏻

[Segata]

SEGA has a lot more IPs than Nintendo does. They don't make as many new ones as they used to but jeez man in the 90s SEGA made one every 5 minutes. If every new IP was a puff of air they would have record breaking hurricanes.

[RosweeSon]

I agree they were great in the 90's but how many of those IP's went 3D very few Sonic himself struggled with the jump so instead they had to make some more like crazy taxi and Virtua tennis... proper classics but like you said they didn't have the money. Why? Because it was all being chucked down the drain with Sega Saturn. Not to mention major failures like 32x and mega CD dreamcast was great but didn't get them the sales they needed. Jet set radio was awesome tho. However they haven't got the backcatalogue that Nintendo has or the various other products that are more importantly very successful. I love Sega and always got a bit of time for them but Nintendo are on another level. Hence why they've been in business for 125+ years and still going strong. I'd love a new Sega console but to be honest they just need to bring some games out. How many dodgy Sonic games have we had these days tho. Far too many.

[2pacalypsenow]

Nope

[jholden3249]

Yup. 15 billion dollar company goes belly up because their console only sold 15 million instead of 60.

Perfectly feasible conclusion.

[NecoTehSergal]

They wouldn't go bankrupt, but they'd no doubt stop console production and center on what they do best - after a meeting, and they'd go Mobile/Handheld only. Which, I feel they should've done a long time ago anyways.

[Dan_scruggs]

no

[Relientk77]

You don't actually believe that do you? lol

Nintendo are rolling in money, they'll be fine

[CrimsonWing69]

No, Nintendo won't go bankrupt and if anything this flop might finally make Nintendo change their approach to consoles. Make no mistake the Switch will not reach the numbers of a PS4 and Xbone. This console will be as successful as usual Nintendo consoles... which spoiler alert since the SNES has always been on a decline.

[RosweeSon]

You missed Wii then yeah? On a decline but cleared 100 million consoles sold. Sure it's not he best console ever by any stretch but someone bought it... over 100 million in fact. All sold at a profit from day 1... 💰💰

[CrimsonWing69]

No I didn't miss the Wii, that was lightning in a bottle. You ever wonder why none of their newer consoles rely on motion controls?

And with the Wii's success you'd think that the Wii U would've been a success with even 50% of the Wii's install base but no, casual gamers and people who really weren't into gaming bought the Wii for Wii Sports with no intention to keep on buying Nintendo consoles. You'd expect even with that being the case the Wii U would've done better but it's actually Nintendo's worst selling console.

[GoldenElf]

Some needs to explain to gaming media writers what bankruptcy means.

So... I'll explain it.

Bankruptcy legally frees you from your debts (money you owe) at the cost of certain conditions, for example the director of the company cannot sit on a board of directors for a certain period of time.

For Nintendo to go bankrupt, it will need to satisfy the following conditions;

- It will need to owe money to someone
- It will need to make less money than it owes
- The person/company that lent Nintendo money has to demand the money back
- Nintendo and the creditor fail to reach a repayment plan
- Nintendo goes into receivership (another company -- called an administrator -- takes over Nintendo and makes moves to make enough money to pay back the debt. This includes everything from firing staff, running the business as usual, doing stuff like selling Mario to Microsoft, etc)
- The administrator fails to make enough money to repay the debts
- The creditor takes Nintendo to court
- The court demands Nintendo makes an immediate payment
- Nintendo files for bankruptcy
- Bankruptcy court declares Nintendo bankrupt

Now, that's a HUGE journey for Nintendo to go down even if the Switch is unsuccessful. Nintendo's income doesn't only come from gaming consoles. The company makes money from all sorts of things, from manufacturing playing cards for Vegas to licensing patents to external companies you've never heard of. It also has a huge stash of cash that could sustain its worse ever financial loss for 70 years. And perhaps most importantly, Nintendo is a publicly listed company which means it makes money from selling tiny parts of its company -- called "shares -- to the public. Selling shares nets Nintendo billions of dollars every year.

Knowing the assets Nintendo owns (IP like Mario, real estate all over the world, distribution centres, retail outlets, thousands of patents, etc), I can't fathom any reason why its entire company is hinged on the success of Switch.

But let's play out a hypothetical scenario where Switch does cause Nintendo massive financial grief. The board resign, a new CEO is elected, younger people come in to run the company who take it in a new direction. Nintendo is decades away from an extinction level event.

Note: I'm not a financial genius and someone will probably point out that there are other steps/conditions to going bankrupt but the general outline above is correct. Also, I didn't read the article.

EDIT TO ADD:

By the way, even IF Nintendo went bankrupt, the company might live on forever. One of the last things an administrator would sell off to settle debts is the company IP -- the name "Nintendo" and its trademarks. That name alone is worth billions, and even if some crappy company bought it at a bargain price the name could live on much in the same way Atari is still a thing despite the original company being long gone.

[OtakuDJK1NG-Rory]

And to make it simple for people. Nintendo has no Debt.

[RosweeSon]

Sell everything at a profit and sell out of anything released... easy to see why. Sure they could release more stock with pretty much everything but if they've sold what they've made for a profit they still making money daily make a few more consoles games etc and restock sold out items and what do you know more Profit coming in. Nintendo know what they doing they could probably survive on the sales of various lunchboxes and merchandise from Mario alone, bang in Zelda or small franchise like Pokemon with its 800+ beasts all able to get a plush or tshirts lunchboxs pencil cases teapots the list is endless bit like their money that comes in daily.

[RosweeSon]

Bankrupt and Gimmick. These words are overly used without knowing what they actually mean. But this is Nintendo so of course another word is Doomed!!! Because having multiple consoles franchises games and many many other profitiable products is always the start of a company going bankrupt?!... whaaaa. They going nowhere.
The only way Nintendo is going under is if Mario gets arrested on historic sex crimes?!... not gonna happen tho is it. Mario was bigger than Mickey Mouse... arguably still is specially after that Cameo at the Olympics. Only seen by what 1 billion people?!. Long Live Nintendo the kings of Original Consoles and some of the truly top games of various generations.

[quent]

No

[3-4-5]

* Nintendo has enough money in cash reserves to fail the next two gens in a row and still be fine.

What a dumb article full of lies.

[RosweeSon]

Let's hope they don't tho ey ;) sure if it's not good but something tells me Nintendo are gonna do a Sony/PS4 and support the shit out of this console. I for one hope they do and wish them all the best most defo got space for a Switch alongside my PS4 ;)

[Moonman]

I wish I had as many billions as Nintendo. They sure make heading for bankruptcy look filthy rich..

[RosweeSon]

Bit like 50 Cent.

[Profchaos]

Pfft no ofcourse not

[Mithan]

This is stupid. Nintendo has tonnes of IP's. If a platform fails, they can always convert to a Software Only company, downsize and then release titles on the other platforms. They would probably make more money if they did so as well.

I didn't click through to the crappy article.

[addictedtochaos]

Short answer: No.

Nintendo won't go bankrupt if the Switch flops. They have enough money to bankroll several failed consoles. Even the Wii U with as much as it didn't sell still ended up being profitable for Nintendo. Just not as much as they hoped.

[KaZeDaRKWIND]

They could flop a couple of consoles and still not go bankrupt

[Mrveryodd]

If it fails... It won't.... Maybe the Nintendo board will get there heads out of there backsides and listen to what the customers really want.

[PCgamer98]

All they need is to throw the next pokemon game on switch and watch it sell.

[Kurdishcurse]

they wont go bankrupt, but it will certainly reevaluate their decisions on console hardware. maybe even start to tell miyamoto to piss off with his gimmicks. i respect miyamoto for what hes done for the industry, but lately hes been an insufferable moron that needs to be put in place from time to time. not all games need gimmicks. you and star fox zero can bug off back to gaming 101.

[Pathogenic]

If I was Nintendo I would've never strayed away from the Gamecube console design in my personal opinion. It sold really well and that was a time when they had a lot of publishers and developers making games for that platform. If you look at what Playstation 4 has done they are outselling the competition by a wide margin.

I'm saying this from a personal perspective and if you agree or disagree that's fine. I firmly believe that if Switch fails to meet the target set out to them by Stockholders and Investors by fiscal years end then we will see a massive shakeup happening at Nintendo. I mean studios abandoning Nintendo, Shareholders exiting the market. This is much larger than we think and it all comes down to the new console. Does Switch have what it takes to compete in today's gaming market? This is a questions that will be answered in time. We can't answer this questions.

I will say this to further my point. If the Switch fails which I'm not in anyway indicating that it will but if it does, I think exiting the market completely would be a good idea and selling off assets and focusing on R&D for Advance Technologies that could help lives and improve our way of life in some shape or form.

[Harmy666]

LOL, I've not even read the article, and I can tell you that Nintendo is not going bankrupt anytime soon. They have enough money in the bank (not in assets, in actual cash) to take a $257 million loss every year until 2052. Not to mention their $6 billion held in premises, equipment and investments. When all of that has run out, we'll be in the year 2075. They’ve got some of the most valuable intellectual property in gaming to sell off before the company goes out of business.

[Segata]

Not even clicking because I know the answer. No. Nintendo has so much money they can lose millions for 30 some years before they need to worry.

[XXanderXX]

It wont flop , just based on that it will bear one of the better handheld device out and able to play a ton of Nintendo game with ease. As for them going bankrupt possible but not happening.

[il-JumperMT]

Short Answer: No
Long Answer: NNNNNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOO

[Gaz_KnightofNylrac]

"The most boring sentence in the daily newspaper is the last sentence of the editorial, which says 'It is too early to tell whether the new policy will work' or 'The effectiveness of the decision remains to be seen.' If it’s too early to tell, don’t bother us with it, and as for what remains to be seen, everything remains to be seen." -William Zinsser, "On Writing Well"

It's fine to have decent discussions on future things, but so many of these type of opinion pieces always get attention due to their clickbait-y nature. If you admit in your article that it's a "wild imagination" and concede we all cannot, in fact, predict and have seen the future with perfect clarity and results from a product that isn't even out for three more months, why bother?

Stating the obvious on "what if" by saying "but we don't know!" only makes this seem like knowingly-easy cannon fodder for those who wish to see this system fail before it's even had it proper unveiling this Thursday. We know next to nothing in pure facts this close to -hopefully- many actual answers to unknown questions, so can't we simply wait a mere four more days and reassess things after we get our presentation?

[Ulf]

Nintendo would go backrupt if they sold off their IPs. Otherwise... no.

[corroios]

The switch will not flop. They are the kings of the portable market and this also allow to play on your tv. This will sell tons if the price is good like 250.

[About30Ninjas]

No but it seems all the Nintendo haters are banking on it

[Shyla]

I have been a fan of nintendo since the original nes was released. Most of my childhood was dedicated to nintendo including neghbourhood video game competitions and hours spent trying to get the best time.
As a fam of the company for so long i can say i am terribly disappointed with them in the past few years. I even purchased a wii u just to support them, i wasnt a fan of the console... sure there are always a few good titles but nothing that stood out with wow. Then i hear about the nes classic system and think "alright! Maybe Nintendo is going back to its roots remebering why generations fell in love and even after 30 years still want to play the ubit titles from their youth.".. then Nintendo makes them extremly hard to come by and somehow thinks that will make their products more desirable. Nintendo has always felt like they can do what thry want because they have such a dedicated fan base. I am in North America and i am tired of being a groupie to a company that has stopped listening to its fans.
The switch is going to fade sure those still blindly dedicated will still purchase them likr myself with thr Wii U. When they released it Nintendo stocks dropped over 5 points and ye sits portable but so is there 3ds and they release a bew one what seems every 3 months. The development support from 3rd party companies isnt there because long ago Nintendo intentionally made it difficult for third party developers to make games for their consoles.
The specs of the switch in comparison to microsoft and sony consoles are so dofferent developers will not invest the money for a few million consoles sold. Which will take a few years because Nintendo will probably do thr slow release on them like they do with everything else.
I am giving up on them its been a great ride but i cant continue to support a company that does not support its fan base.... they dont even feel the need to show up at e3 anymore and publish those stupid videos. For dedicated gaming fans e3 is a big platform and them deciding to not associate is yet anothet hint about how much they care.
Their focus on animal crosding and things where they can sell more swag is just a turn off that their long time fans generally speaking have no interest in.
You can call me anti Nintendo or call me a turncloak if you wish. The bottom line is Nintendo has failed its long time customer base and if i wanted a portable console id buy an ipad or a 3ds pr many of the other options out there. The most i hope for now is thry make games or lend their licensing to other developers. Knowing Nintendo they wont even have the decency to do that and everything will die with them.
Sure they may survive the switch fiasco but they dont have long and im tired of being part of a burning ship... i have officially jumped off thr boat and am sailing yo thr island of common sense.
Thanks for the years Nintendo