Photo/Illutration A Nintendo logo is seen June 5 in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/File)

Nintendo, the Japanese video game maker behind the Super Mario and Pokemon franchises, reported an 18.6% surge in net profit for the first fiscal quarter Friday on the back of strong demand for its new Switch 2 console.

Kyoto-based Nintendo Co.’s April-June profit totaled 96.03 billion yen ($640 million), up from nearly 81 billion yen. Quarterly sales more than doubled to 572.36 billion yen ($3.8 billion).

Nintendo said it sold 3.5 million Switch 2 game consoles globally on the first four days after it hit store shelves June 5, a record pace for a Nintendo game machine. Its sales continue to be strong, it said.

The company said the new console’s higher price added to sales growth momentum. The new version sells for about $450 compared to $300 for the previous Switch when it first went on sale in 2017.

Especially popular games included “Mario Kart World” and “Donkey Kong Bananza.” “Pokemon Friends,” which went on sale last month for the older Switch, can be also played on the new Switch.

The Switch works both as a handheld portable machine and as a home console.

Nintendo stuck to its forecast to sell 15 million Switch 2 machines through this fiscal year.

Nintendo left unchanged its profit forecast for the year through March 2026, at 300 billion yen ($2 billion) profit, up nearly 8% on year.

Nintendo stock, which has steadily climbed in the past year gaining more than 50%, edged down nearly 1% before earnings were announced.

There are some worries about the impact of President Donald Trump’s tariffs on Japanese exports, but that did not appear to affect Nintendo’s overall projections.

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