Switch reaches 150 million units, but sales down 30% YoY

https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/switch-2-cant-come-soon-enough-nintendo-lowers-forecast-again-as-switch-sales-decline-30/

Nintendo Switch sold 4.82m Switch consoles during the quarter, for a total of 9.54m for the fiscal year, and 150.86m life-to-date. The Switch has to clear 154 million (Nintendo DS) and at least 160 million (PS2) to become the best-selling console in history.

Year-on-year, Switch hardware sales are down more than 30%, and software sales are down 24%, which Nintendo partly attributes to the boost provided by The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (released in May 2023) and Super Mario Bros. Wonder (released in October 2023) in its previous fiscal year.

The Switch is now approaching eight years old, and Nintendo finally announced plans to release Nintendo Switch 2 last month, along with plans for worldwide hands-on events starting in April.

Dr Serkan Toto, CEO of Tokyo-based game industry consultancy Kantan Games, told VGC the results suggest that Nintendo Switch 2 “cannot come soon enough” and questioned what games the company would use to fill the gap. Currently, Nintendo’s confirmed Switch release schedule includes only the upcoming Xenoblade remaster.

“It is now much clearer how Nintendo overestimated the life that is still left in the Switch at the start of the fiscal year,” he said. “Nintendo now revised the hardware sales forecast two times, and I expect them to miss even this lowered forecast.

“I’m not sure why they thought they would sell 14 million units this fiscal year with a very dry software slate. Switch 2 cannot come soon enough. I hope for them it is not scheduled for Fall, like not too few people believe.”

THE BEST-SELLING SWITCH GAMES

*As of December 31, 2024 (compared to September 2024)

1. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe – 67.35m (+2.08m)
2. Animal Crossing: New Horizons – 47.44m (+0.99m)
3. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate – 35.88m (+0.74m)
4. Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild – 32.62m (+0.33m)
5. Super Mario Odyssey – 29.04m (+0.54m)
6. Pokemon Sword/Shield – 26.60m (+0.16m)
7. Pokémon Scarlet & Violet – 26.38m (+0.69m)
8. Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom – 21.55m (+0.51m)
9. Super Mario Party – 21.10m (+0.12m)
10. New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe – 18.06 (+0.29m)

Thoughts, SW? Do you think Switch will still overtake the PS2? Seems like the Switch 2 could squash those hopes.

Must admit I didn't see the switch being this successful after watching the reveal. But the only way was up after the Wii u.

I'm not sure if it is going to pass the ps2 with the Switch 2 releasing this year.

Switch 2 should be eating into og switch sales, and I would imagine the og switch won't be stocked as much.

And the og switch is already so cheap....it's hard to imagine there's a ton of people that want one who hasn't bought it yet.

The Switch will probably outsell the PS2. They'll drop the price and sell it in poor countries.

nah sony will just find more sold ps2's

Lots-o-buyer's remorse going on out there. lol :P

Everyone I know who owns a Switch, barely touches the thing. :/ I had the Switch twice. The first because I wanted to play Pokmeon, which I've discovered Nintendo games just aren't my thing anymore. And the second time, because my friends wanted to play games together, but the hanging out is so infrequent due to our work schedules, that I ended up selling it again, because I never really wanted it again. :3

Cows are starting to sweat. 😓🤣😂

It will need a price cut I think if it's to beat the PS2.

They must be planning a price cut at this stage though: What with the Switch 2 coming out and all that. Where I am, it's €300 for the standard unit. €360 for the oled and €240 for the Switch Lite. There must be some space now to cut the price. Otherwise where are they going to put the Switch 2? €450? €500?

...Take a leaf out of Nvidias book: 8X as powerful as the Switch so 8X the price: a bargain at €2500 j/k.

You can see why they really really didn't want to formally announce the Switch 2 though or have any sort of reveal. The cat is really out of the bag now.

Kids constantly reach the right age to want a console, so there's an endlessly growing audience for Mario Kart and Pokemon.

For example, my 7 year old niece and her younger sister are obsessed with Pokemon merchandise. They've never played any of the games, but they're in the right age range to buy 2x Switch consoles if Nintendo did a price drop or bundle for the Switch 1.

@Planeforger: and kids that age don’t care that much about graphics lol

~25 years later with a much larger playerbase and consoles are struggling to outsell the PS2.🤭

The second place console in the PS2 generation only sold 22-24 million units. So there’s clearly more console customers now. But please, continue your false narratives 🤭

Didn't Sony magically "find" another 5 million sales for the PS2 recently?

Surely they'll find another 5-10 million by years end 🤣

Now point to part of my comment that is incorrect.🤭

Ya got ’em. Plus, Switch is actually outpacing PS2, so it realistically could pass 160 with a good margin. If Nintendo lowers the price to like $200, that would be nuts!

@ghostofgolden: Don't reply to obvious bait man.

If you look at the sales of the competing consoles that were up against the PS2 they were all small in the Dreamcast, Xbox and Gamecube. So if you compare sales for that entire gen it was 205 million.

If we look at this current gen the Switch is 150 million, PS5 at 65 million and the Series X/S is estimated at 29 million, so this gen has surpassed the PS2's gen already by over 39 million consoles and we're not finished with this gen yet. But people say consoles are on the decline 🤦‍♂️

Three comments later and they still can't point out which part of my comment was false.🤭

Here is another factoid that will burn. Mobile gaming is bigger than PC and consoles combined. The struggle is real.😂

^ got em again!

^ got em twice.😂🤣

Consoles are clearly struggling! 😂🤣😂🤣

They all better follow Xbox’s lead or face their impending doom 😂🤣😂🤣

Consoles struggling to outsell the PS2 after ~25 years...."bu buh but teh XBox"😂

Current gen is Series X|S, PS5 and upcoming Switch 2. Just in case some folks aren't aware.😏

@ghostofgolden: he’s having a meltdown 🤣

He has now let it be known he doesn’t know what generation the Switch is in 🤭😂🤣

Wii was with PS3/360.

Wii U was with PS4/Xbox One

Switch kicked off current gen in 2017

Switch 2 is launching a year before this 2026 Xbox the Lems are hyping. They can’t wait to get past the Series consoles

Lems always trying to change the rules 😂🤣

The mental gymnastics I have you performing is

Very impressive numbers indeed.

I remember after the WiiU, some people saying that Nintendo might pull a SEGA. But instead, they stuck to their unique hardware and exclusives. As a result, they were able to cultivate their own unique market, audience, and brand identity, unlike trend-chasing 3rd parties like EA and Ubi (and MS will soon follow suit).

It is also worth noting that when they were in a tight spot, they did not make easy choices like acquiring a major publisher, nor did they make massive layoffs; they stuck to their own vision and succeeded.

The sales will go up again once the new Pokemon is released, but it's true this last year has been boring for the switch. You can tell all the new releases are being held for the new system.

I'm sorry, but this is hilarious. 😂

Indeed😅

But anyway. Regarding Pedro's original post. It shouldn't matter if a console will ever reach PS2 milestone, what's more important is diminishing returns for the console manufacture is far more important than just catching up to someone else. I'm not sure why he needs to bring up PS2 milestone as this wasn't the topic at hand.

Nintendo hardware sales are down -30% and software sales are down -24%..

should we be "concerned"?.. 🤔

@Antwan3K: These are very troubling times indeed.

In the OP "Thoughts, SW? Do you think Switch will still overtake the PS2? Seems like the Switch 2 could squash those hopes"

🫡