General sales Nintendo Switch in Japan exceeded the 20 million mark, reported this morning edition Famitsu… Before the Nintendo hybrid family, only four systems took this bar – Nintendo ds, Gameboy, Playstation 2 and Nintendo 3DS… The first two have sold over 30 million units.
- Nintendo DS – 32,990,000
- GameBoy + GameBoy Color – 32,470,000
- Nintendo 3DS – 25,260,000
- PlayStation 2 – 21,454,325
- Nintendo Switch – 20,018,278 (as of May 29, 2023; Switch – 16.16 million, Switch Lite – 3.84 million)
Nintendo Switch took 20 million faster than Nintendo 3DS – in 4 years and 11 weeks versus 4 years and 45 weeks… PlayStation 2 took 6 years and 49 weeks to achieve the result, and the absolute record for speed is the Nintendo DS – it took it only 2 years and 50 weeks to reach the 20 million mark, but it cost half the price of the current Nintendo flagship.
The Nintendo Switch is showing an unusual dynamic in Japan – in its fifth year it sells better than it did in its fourth year, and it did better in its fourth year than it did in its third year.
Top 5 Bestsellers on Switch in Japan according to Famitsu (cartridge sales as of May 23, 2023):
- Animal Crossing New Horizons – 6.78 million copies
- Super Smash Bros. Ultimate – 4.29 million copies
- Pokemon Sword & Shield – 4.050 million copies
- Splatoon 2 – 3.87 million copies
- Mario Kart 8 Deluxe – 3.84 million copies
Official stats from Nintendo as of March 31st (cartridge shipments + digital direct sales to players):
- Animal Crossing: New Horizons – 9.37 million copies
- Super Smash Bros. Ultimate – 5.41 million copies
- Pokémon Sword & Shield – 5.14 million copies
- Mario Kart 8 Deluxe – 4.80 million copies
- Splatoon 2 – 4.69 million copies
As of March 31, 2023, 84.59 million Switch consoles were sold worldwide. Nintendo plans to increase circulation to ~ 110 million by next April.
Read also: Rumor: New 4K Nintendo Switch Announced In The Next 48 Hours…
