The Nintendo Switch had another big end to the year, with Nintendo able to sell another 8.22 million Switch consoles through the three months up to 31st December 2022, pushing the lifetime total to some 122.55 million consoles sold.
With that, the Nintendo Switch has jumped up to third in the all-time best-selling games consoles list, surpassing both the Game Boy (118 million) and the PlayStation 4 (117 million) in total sales. There’s a long way to go to catch up second and first on the list, with the Nintendo DS over 30 million ahead on 154 million, and the PlayStation 2 on over 155 million, but it’s not inconceivable that the plucky hybrid console could pull it off.
8.22 million consoles means that the Nintendo Switch outsold the PlayStation 5, despite improving supply for Sony’s latest and greatest, though it is a marginal slowdown from the pace that Nintendo had managed up until this point. Through 2019, 2020 and 2021, they were able to sell in excess of 10 million consoles during the year-ending holiday buying period, but fell short in 2022. For the calendar year of 2022, it’s also been slower, with 19 million consoles sold compared to the 23.6 million, 27.4 million and 20.2 million of the three years before.
So is the Switch slowing down? Well, Nintendo doesn’t think so. 2020 and 2021 were fuelled by pandemic lockdowns and the blockbusting hit of Animal Crossing: New Hope, as well as the Switch OLED release, but the company also struggled with chip shortages and production at times. Now, with The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom due out in May, they feel confident that they’ll see a sales bump and are increasing production.
Elsewhere, it was another big year for Nintendo Switch games. Pokémon Scarlet & Violet has been an absolute sensation, already reaching 20.61 million sales. There’s three Pokémon pairs and trios at around the 25 million mark, including Pokémon Sword & Shield, and Scarlet & Violet should easily surpass them. The best-selling Pokémon games are the originals with 32.8 million.
There was also good news for Splatoon 3 at 10.13 million sales to date, Xenoblade Chronicles 3 at 1.81 million, and Bayonetta 3 sneaking past the million mark with 1.04 million.
Oh, and then there’s Mario Kart 8. That game just does. Not. Stop. Selling, and now sits at 52 million copies sold. Adding the Will U sales, it is now the 6th best-selling game of all time, surpassing the original Super Mario Bros.
Looking ahead, Nintendo’s announced a new Nintendo Direct stream for tomorrow night, focussed on games set for release in the first half of 2023.
Source: Nintendo
