Reggie Fils-Aimé revealed that Nintendo's life as a console producer depended on the success of the Nintendo Switch. The former president of Nintendo of America revealed this during a live stream on Twitch for the New York Gaming Awards.

NINTENDO SWITCH WAS A “MAKE OR BREAK PRODUCT”

The future of the whole company of Nintendo depended on the success of the Nintendo Switch. Because of the failure of the Wii U, Nintendo was in no financial position to release another failed console. Therefore, it was “make or break” for the console, says FIls-Aimé.

Nintendo has sold over 79.87 million units as of December 31, 2020, according to financial reports by Nintendo. From the same report, Nintendo revealed that 66.34 million of those units were of the original model, with the rest being Switch Lite units. This means that within three and a half years in the market, Nintendo has already made more money than the Wii U ever did in its lifetime. Better yet, the Nintendo Switch is just halfway through its life cycle. Better yet, rumors suggest that an upgraded, Super Switch version is coming soon.

Wii U's financial performance was so dismal that it is considered to be one of the biggest console failures of all time. In spite of the Wii U's innovative features, its lackluster design and weak game line-up doomed the console. Still, it's all thanks to the Wii U that we even got the Nintendo Switch. Many features of the Wii U found their way into the Switch.

That's why Fils-Aimé considers the Wii U a “failure forward,” a necessary failure to reach the next step to success.

Still, had the Nintendo Switch failed, it would have followed in the footsteps of former console rival Sega. From being one of the biggest console makers, Nintendo could also have become just another game developer. Can you imagine such a world? Thank god for the Nintendo Switch.