TOKYO — On Tuesday, Nintendo, the renowned Japanese video game developer famed for its Super Mario series, announced a significant decline in its profits for the first half of the fiscal year, reporting a staggering 60% decrease due to diminished demand for its Switch console, which has now been on the market for eight years.

Based in Kyoto, Nintendo Co. disclosed a profit of 108.7 billion yen (approximately $715 million) for the period from April to September, with sales experiencing a 34% drop from the previous year, totaling 523 billion yen (around $3.4 billion). Notably, over 74% of its sales revenue originated from international markets, although the company did not provide a detailed breakdown of its quarterly figures.

During this timeframe, global sales of the Switch console fell to 4.7 million units, down from 6.8 million the year prior. Despite this decline, Nintendo expressed optimism in a statement, asserting that Switch sales continue to grow, and affirmed its objective of selling one console per individual rather than limiting it to one per household.

Nintendo maintained its earlier forecast of achieving a profit of 300 billion yen ($2 billion) for the full fiscal year ending in March 2025, representing a nearly 29% reduction from the previous year’s fiscal results. The company projects annual sales to decrease by 23%, reaching 1.28 trillion yen ($8.4 billion). Furthermore, it has revised its Switch sales estimation for the fiscal year down to 12.5 million units, a reduction from the previous forecast of 13.5 million.

Like other game and toy manufacturers, Nintendo typically sees its highest profits during the Christmas shopping season, as well as during Japan’s New Year celebration, a time when children often receive cash gifts from relatives.

Details regarding a potential successor to the Switch have yet to be revealed by the company. Throughout the first half of the fiscal year, standout gaming titles included “Paper Mario RPG,” which sold 1.95 million units since its May release, and “Luigi Mansion 2 HD,” which approached sales of 1.6 million units. Overall, more than 70 million games for the Switch were sold during this period, featuring nine million-seller titles, including offerings from third-party developers.

However, this represents a steep decline from over 97 million games sold during the same period in the previous fiscal year. The earlier release of the Super Mario Brothers film significantly boosted sales last year, while the lack of a similar release this year has negatively impacted Nintendo’s recent performance. Additionally, the company reported decreased revenue from its mobile gaming ventures and related intellectual property businesses.