The Switch was late to the generation eight party. Released in 2017, eight years after the Xbox One and three years before the gen nine consoles, Nintendo’s portable beast was cutting it fine timewise. Like with the Wii before it, though, Nintendo was right to bank on its loyal fanbase to gravitate to innovation at the expense power.
A recent finding has shown that the console did even better than we once thought. Unlike with the Wii-U before it, Nintendo must have done something right with the Switch – it’s still selling well, now topping 111 million units sold, with demands still high.
Check out Nintendo’s promotion for the Switch’s online perks – this might have something to do with sales!
The news came today (August 3rd), when Nintendo released their financial results from the first quarter of the fiscal year (ending in March). Video game industry news source Nibellion simplified the findings on Twitter with bullet points.
From Nintendo’s newest financial results
– Switch now at 111.08m units (+ 3.43m units in the last quarter; a decline from last year’s 4.45m due to the semiconductor shortage)
– demand remains stable in all regions
– forecast still at 21m unitshttps://t.co/BTWHuT6VCm pic.twitter.com/aClTvDLLzr— Nibel (@Nibellion) August 3, 2022
To put those numbers into comparison, the PlayStation 4 has sold an estimated 117 million units (according to PlayStation Lifestyle) which is almost unfathomable that the Switch would be closing in on it when you consider the sheer popularity of Sony’s last-gen console. As well as the news that Switch sales are now at 111.08 million, and demand remains stable, they report that this year’s sales decline is only due to a shortage of semiconductors. Once this issue is sorted, Nintendo hopes Switch sales will continue to soar.
The report also revealed that the Switch has sold over 863.59 million units of software. This must have something to do with huge new releases like Pokémon Legends: Arceus and enduring titles like Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, which was ported from the Wii-U. Animal Crossing: New Horizons was also a bestseller, and it came at a time when we all needed comfort (peak pandemic).
That a console can do so well so long after its release is a testament to Nintendo’s selling abilities. It looks like they learned from the Wii-U in this area, and remain dedicated to pushing the Switch to its limits.
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