On September 16th, 2020, Nintendo held its annual corporate management briefing. The majority of the pdf file detailing the briefing contains the guidelines on where Nintendo will be going in the future, as well as the overall company philosophy. However, there is also interesting information contained about the current numbers for Switch Online and Nintendo accounts compared to the previously released numbers.
Between the COVID-19 pandemic affecting the world and the release of multiple Nintendo titles, it shouldn't be a surprise to see many more people playing Nintendo games in 2020. While the numbers of accounts with both Nintendo in general and Switch Online have been generally increasing over time, a few specific games caused some intense spikes in players.
As of the briefing, it is confirmed that there are currently over 200 million Nintendo Accounts around the world. This is largely due to Nintendo games on mobile accounts being connected to Nintendo accounts. Meanwhile, there are now over 26 million Switch Online users worldwide as well.
According to the graphs provided in the briefing, Nintendo accounts had a small spike that eased out after the initial release of the Nintendo Switch back in 2017. However, a very large spike occurred in September of 2019 due to the release of the mobile title Mario Kart Tour.
The release of Mario Kart Tour seems to have caused the number of total Nintendo accounts to nearly completely double in amount. This could possibly mean that more mobile games with Nintendo properties could be on the horizon soon.
With Switch Online accounts, the first jump in numbers occurred with the release of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate back in December of 2018. While this lead to a steady incline going forward, the next spike occurred with the release of Pokemon Sword and Pokemon Shield in November of 2019. None of these, however, could compare to the biggest and most recent spike that happened in March of 2020 with the release of Animal Crossing: New Horizons.
Keeping these numbers in mind, it is very likely that Nintendo players and fans alike will be seeing more mobile titles as well as Switch titles involving some sort of online interactivity. Other details in the briefing support this, which means that fans have plenty of material to speculate on for Nintendo's future.
What may worry some fans is with Nintendo's treatment of Mario Kart Tour affecting other future mobile titles. Many were rubbed the wrong way with how many micro-transactions and payments were required to fully enjoy the game. However, they will just need to wait and see.
Source: Nintendo of Japan