TOKYO: Nintendo reported on Thursday a 52 percent jump in first-quarter net profits thanks to brisk sales of its latest “Zelda” game and the release of “The Super Mario Bros. Movie”.

Recording net income of 181 billion yen ($1.26 billion), the Japanese gaming giant left its net profit forecast for the full year to March 2024 unchanged at 340 billion yen.

“The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom” had a “good start” after its release in May, recording sales of 18.51 million units, Nintendo said in a statement.

“The April release of ‘The Super Mario Bros. Movie’ positively impacted sales of ‘Mario’ related titles, with ‘Mario Kart 8 Deluxe’ recording sales of 1.67 million units (for cumulative sales of 55.46 million units),” it added.

“The Super Mario Bros. Movie” was the year’s first film to pass the global $1 billion mark at the box office.

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Hardware unit sales increased 13.9 percent year on year to 3.91 million units, and software unit sales increased 26.1 percent to 52.21 million units.

Its results were also buoyed by a weaker yen, Nintendo said.