Nintendo confirms that it is hoarding billions of dollars to work on new projects. The news follows the massively successful launch of the Switch earlier this year and a strong showing at E3 2017.

During Nintendo's 77th Annual General Meeting of Shareholders in Kyoto, Japan, a shareholder pointed out that Nintendo has one trillion yen in its war chest, which equates to almost $9 billion. Nintendo president Tatsumi Kimishima explained that this is because the company needs to invest in recent "technical innovations."

Nintendo must also "hoard" for "developing future hardware and software, our IP, mobile, video content, etc." As Nintendo's business often experiences "high and low cycles," the company needs that money to be prepared for whatever may come its way. Kimishima also said that giving back to shareholders with dividends is another reason for the stockpile.

As the Nintendo Switch is the company's number one priority right now, it seems likely that a fair portion of the money will go towards developments for that console. Recent reports from analysts suggested that a Switch Mini console could be released in the next few years, offering an alternative, more child-friendly sized console. While the console would not be a totally new offering and would build on existing technology, trying to figure out how to make the console smaller without losing any of the standard Switch's power could require a lot of research and money to figure out.

Fans will also hope that Nintendo decides to put a good chunk of change towards increasing stock production for the Switch. Nintendo has recently made commitments to fans, promising that it will try and make more Switch units this year in order to address the huge demand for its new console. It notices that demand for the Switch is only set to increase over the next few months as the holiday shopping season begins and is attempting to keep up.

The release of games like Splatoon 2 and Super Mario Odyssey will also make the console even more hard to get. Any information regarding the Pokemon RPG for Nintendo Switch will cause demand to skyrocket too. Nintendo will be glad with the rate at which its new console is selling but fans are liable to get upset if shortages continue at this level. Hopefully the company will spend some of its many, many coins in upping production further.

The Nintendo Switch is available now.

Source: Nintendo Everything