Bloomberg

(Bloomberg) -- Nintendo Co. announced a series of new games for its popular Switch console on Thursday, including two titles from Capcom Co.’s blockbuster Monster Hunter franchise that could further boost sales momentum for the hybrid hand-held.Monster Hunter Rise, coming on March 26, is an action game with realistic graphics in which players can track and slaughter massive beasts. Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin is another game in the series with cartoonish graphics that will be out next summer. The franchise, first introduced by the Osaka, Japan-based company in 2004, has released 49 titles and sold more than 64 million copies, Capcom said.The games have helped ignite hardware sales for the platforms they are available on, particularly in Japan. The most recent game, Monster Hunter: World, launched for Sony Corp.’s PlayStation 4, Microsoft Corp.’s Xbox One and PC. That particular game will not be coming to the Switch, Capcom said over the summer.“Monster Hunter has become a very successful franchise in the US,” said Mat Piscatella, an analyst at NPD Group, in a tweet. “Two games from the franchise coming to Switch in 2021 is huge. Looking forward to seeing how the new games do, lots of room for optimism here.”Nintendo has been hosting monthly online presentations to introduce games from outside developers since July to allay concerns among fans and investors that the Switch’s software release pipeline for this year may not stand up well against Sony’s next-generation PlayStation 5 and the Xbox Series X, both hitting the market in November. Nintendo President Shuntaro Furukawa said Wednesday that the company sees the Switch as midway through its life cycle and that a strong slate of new games can be expected next year and beyond.Other games announced for the Switch Thursday included a new entry in the Disgaea role-playing game series and a new boxing game.READ MORE: Nintendo Plans New Switch Games, Extending Console’s Life CycleFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.