It was really only a matter of time, but the Nintendo Switch has followed through on its promise of outselling the Wii U’s lifetime sales in under a year. The Switch is now at 14.86 million units sold, as of 31st December, while the Wii U only managed 13.56 in its five years as Nintendo’s home console. Once again, it’s a remarkable turnaround for Nintendo, and is just one of several highlights from their latest financial report.
It’s clear that the strength of Nintendo’s first party catalogue has been key to this success, with Super Mario Odyssey selling 9.07 million copies worldwide – even with the scandals, this is comparable with the 9 million that Star Wars Battlefront II managed across three platforms – while Mario Kart 8 Deluxe has sold 7.33 million copies, as it closes in on surpassing the 8.4 million units the game originally sold on Wii U, where it was the console’s best selling game.
Meanwhile, Breath of the Wild stands at 6.7 million copies, Splatoon 2 at 4.91 million, 1-2-Switch at 1.88 Million, ARMS at 1.61 million and Xenoblade Chronicles 2 at 1.06 million, meaning that seven of the console’s first year exclusive titles are million sellers. Nintendo state that’s eight million sellers if you include an undisclosed third party title.
Though the Nintendo 3DS is long in the tooth, it still sold 5.86 million units during the holidays. That’s a 9% decline year on year globally, but the drop in software sales was even more pronounced, dropping by 33%. That can largely be attributed to Pokémon Ultra Sun & Ultra Moon selling 7.17, though it was never truly expected to match up to Sun & Moon.
Elsewhere, the SNES Mini “proved to be a hit” though Nintendo don’t go into details, and though Nintendo are still testing the waters with mobile gaming, and are soon to close their Miitomo debut app, revenue jumped 172% year on year.
To put it all simply, the Nintendo Switch is doing great, everything is doing OK as well, and Nintendo are enjoying the good times once more.
Source: Nintendo
leeroye
Thats truly impressive.
I have not jumped on board yet as its too pricey for me, especially when you factor in having to buy a pro controller.
However, i think we can say the lesson here is that if you release a console and support it with top quality first party games it will sell very well. MS are you watching?
Stefan L
You don’t have to buy a pro controller. I know quite a few people who play with the console almost exclusively handheld.
ron_mcphatty
It’s definitely pricey, the games are rarely discounted, but like Tef says it’s fine to use as a handheld. It’s pretty light and comfy for the 3 hours the battery lasts and the Joycons in the supplied controller grip are great for any length of time! The Pro controller is far from essential :)
JR.
Impressive.