TOKYO -- Nintendo on Thursday reported a 19% decline in its net profit for the first half of this fiscal year versus the same period a year ago as the company suffered from a slowdown in game software sales, while production of its Switch console was hampered by the global chip shortage.

The Japanese gaming company logged a net profit of 171 billion yen ($1.5 billion) for the April to September period on the back of a 19% drop in revenue from a year earlier to 624 billion yen.

COVID-driven demand for games has slowed from last year as more people emerge from their homes and economic activity picks up around the world. Nintendo had benefited from the gaming boom, posting a record net profit last fiscal year. However, dwindling demand has hit its profit in 2021.

Software sales fell 6% in the first half. Although Nintendo was able to publish popular games like The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD, a megahit released last year set the bar high. Animal Crossing: New Horizons came out in March 2020, selling more than 14 million copies in the April to September period last year.

Sales of its Switch console also dropped. Combined with the handheld Switch Lite device, Nintendo sold a total of 8.28 million hardware units, down 34% from a year ago.

On Thursday, Nintendo trimmed its decline in annual net profit for the year ending March 2022 to 27% -- previously the company had said it expected the figure to fall 29%. Nintendo anticipates to sell more gaming software than it initially expected, and a positive impact from foreign exchange movement also helped the gaming company.