Gaming giant Nintendo has reported a drop in profits of 60% for the first half of the fiscal year as demand for its Switch console fell.

The Japanese firm said it had made 108.7 billion yen (£551 million) profit for the period between April and September, down from 271 billion yen (£1.37 billion) in the same period last year.

The company results also showed a 34% drop in sales – the bulk of which comes from Nintendo Switch hardware and software – including in Europe, where Switch sales dropped from 175.8 billion yen (£889 million) last year to 113.2 billion yen (£573 million) this year.

The Switch console has been a huge success for Nintendo since it first launched in March 2017 offering the combination of home console and remote play through a portable screen and TV-connected console docking station.

However, the device has seen only incremental updates since – including a version with an OLED screen and a cheaper Switch Lite – and momentum around the device appears to be dropping off.

According to Nintendo’s figures, global sales of Switch machines dropped to 4.7 million from 6.8 million in the same period last year.

And despite near-constant questions and rumours about a successor to the Switch, Nintendo has not yet confirmed or announced any details on a next-generation version of the device.

But Nintendo said in a statement that Switch sales were still growing and vowed to stick to its goal of selling a Switch console to each and every individual, not just one Switch per every household.

Nintendo stuck to its earlier projection for a 300 billion yen (£1.54 billion) profit for the full fiscal year through to March 2025, down nearly 29% from the previous fiscal year.

Annual sales were forecast to drop 23% to 1.28 trillion yen (£6.5 billion).

It also lowered its Switch sales projection for the fiscal year to 12.5 million units from an earlier forecast to sell 13.5 million.