Sales Figures: Switch Nintendo’s best-selling home console ever

February 3, 2022

After the predictions last week (which you can read about here), just minutes ago Nintendo released their latest official sales figures covering everything up to and including sales on the 31st of December 2021. It makes for some interesting reading and as expected the Switch has officially become the fifth best-selling system ever – overtaking the original PlayStation and now stands at 103.54 million units sold. However, what’s perhaps even more impressive about this number is that Switch has outsold the outstandingly successful Wii and has now become Nintendo’s best-selling home console EVER!

On the software side of things – we got sales for the first time since their respective launches for Metroid: Dread (2.74 million units – which means it will soon become the best-selling Metroid ever), Pokémon Sword/Pokémon Shield (13.97 million units) and Super Mario Party (17.39 million units). Of course, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe continues to sell amazingly well (43.35 million units) and is followed by Animal Crossing: New Horizons (37.62 million units), Super Smash Bros Ultimate (27.40 million units), The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (25.80 million units) and Super Mario Odyssey (23.02 million units).

switch sales mario kart 8 deluxe

Switch Sales – But what does it all mean?

Many of these numbers are just staggering. The Switch is selling very well and will likely continue to do so this year. Some even say that by the end of 2022 (and barring any real ‘Super Switch Pro’-type announcements) Switch sales may even overtake those of the PS4 and Game Boy. If they do, that would mean the Switch would become the third highest-selling console ever – and only the Nintendo DS family of systems and the supreme PS2 would have sold more.

Just think of that for a second. Think what a huge phenomenon the original PlayStation was. If you’re anywhere around my age you probably owned the original PlayStation or definitely knew a friend who did. Think about how gigantic the PS4 was (and continues to be). The success of the PS4 was so massive that it basically blew Xbox out of the water and it could be argued is partially responsible for Xbox’s current bold strategy which includes Game Pass, and xCloud and their multiple acquisitions. And yet, the Switch may outsell the PS4 this year. Consider that it may also overtake the GameBoy; A system that in one way or another was around for 14 years and was home to the original Pokémon games and Tetris too. Again, the Switch may outsell the GameBoy… this year!

Finally, travel back in time with me to the months before the Switch launched in 2017. The Wii U had sold a measly 13.5 million systems over 5 years. To put that into some perspective – that’s not too far off what the PS5 and Xbox X/S have already sold in around one year. (In fact, as confirmed yesterday – the PS5 actually outsold the Wii U in just over year with 17.3 million in sales).

While the world was in a pandemic.

And there were severe production issues.

Nintendo has transitioned from Wii U (a home console sales disaster) to a hybrid console that has dominated the home market and will soon likely only sit behind the DS family of handheld systems. In short, it’s a fantastic time to be a Nintendo Fan!

For a breakdown of what you can look forward to playing this year check out our 2022 games list here.

February 3, 2022

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