Nintendo plans 3 new Pokémon games to boost Switch

Three new Pokémon videogames coming to Nintendo Co.'s Switch game machine this year could provide important sales fuel as the company looks to avoid the kind of thin slate of releases that doomed its previous game machine.

The $300 Switch, a console-handheld hybrid machine that debuted in March 2017, has sold more than 17 million units through March 2018, according to Nintendo--a surprise hit that marks a resurgence after the company's previous console, the Wii U, flopped.

The Wii U, sold only 13.56 million units in its five-year lifetime, plagued by a too-thin lineup of games in its first years, analysts said.

Switch owners already have access to games from popular franchises such as Mario and Zelda, first-year releases that helped draw longtime fans to the new hardware. But industry watchers say Nintendo will have to keep up the pace of strong software releases to meet its goal of selling another 20 million Switch units in its current fiscal year.

"The Wii U was such a massive failure in part because the games were not attractive enough," said Serkan Toto, a Tokyo-based industry consultant.

Pokémon, with its child friendly monsters and cultlike following, could provide a significant boost. More than 300 million Pokémon games have been sold world-wide since 1996, according to Pokémon Co., which manages the franchise and is co-owned by Nintendo, Game Freak Inc. and Creatures Inc.

"We developed the new Pokémon games with hopes of driving up the momentum of the Switch," said Tsunekazu Ishihara, chief executive of Pokémon Co., at a news conference in Tokyo on Wednesday.

Allie Cooper, a 24-year-old freelance artist in Tampa, Fla., said she would buy a Switch if it meant she could play Pokémon games akin to the classics she grew up on. The franchise is "really important to me," Ms. Cooper said. Without Pokémon, the Switch "just doesn't have enough [games] to really draw me in."

Pokémon's new offerings mark the first time the franchise is offering role-playing games for a console that hooks up to a TV set. Developer Game Freak said it drew inspiration from the late-1990s hit "Pokémon Yellow" to appeal to longtime fans. But it also hoping to win over the massive audience that fell for the 2016 smartphone game "Pokémon Go."

"Pokémon Go" currently has 65 million monthly active users, according to Pokémon Co.

Nintendo said Pokémon games are second in franchise-unit sales only to the Super Mario lineup, whose games have sold more than 344 million copies. Pokémon games have largely been for handhelds such as the Nintendo DS.

Pokémon's charm hasn't always translated into strong sales. A Pokémon game released on the Switch in September has sold only about one million copies, according to Nintendo. Analysts said that is likely because it is a fighting game, which strays from the role-playing format for which the series is best known.

Nintendo President Tatsumi Kimishima, who is expected to step down in June, has said the Switch's long-term success will hinge on its ability to satisfy both dedicated and casual gamers.

One of the new Pokémon games, "Pokémon Quest," available immediately on the Switch, will be free to play with the option to make in-game purchases. It is also coming to mobile devices in June.

The two other titles, slated for release Nov. 16, are called "Let's Go, Pikachu!" and "Let's Go, Eevee!" They will cost $60, and users will be able to transfer to it some of the characters they collect from playing "Pokémon Go."

Those two titles for the Switch borrow tricks from Pokémon Go such as the throwing motions players use to capture digital creatures. The games are aimed at "people who touched the franchise for the first time with [the] Pokémon Go game," said Mr. Ishihara, the Pokémon Co. CEO.

Junichi Masuda, a producer at Game Freak, said an additional Pokémon title would be released in the second half of next year.

Write to Sarah E. Needleman at sarah.needleman@wsj.com and Takashi Mochizuki at takashi.mochizuki@wsj.com

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