The world of video games hasn't provided much respite from global issues recently, not for those of us who love games and the people who make them. The issues facing the industry and players post-COVID — including mass layoffs, cancelled projects, questionable acquisitions, the encroachment of generative AI, rising prices, an unstable economy and a cost-of-living crisis — mean it's easy to assume there's no going back.
But just when you catch yourself pondering whether the good ol' days of games as an artistic medium and pastime are numbered, just when it looks like we're hurtling down a F2P, games-as-a-service slide greased with AI-generated turds, Nintendo goes and proves that there's life in the old console model yet.
All the hardware numbers following launch have been encouraging, but today's financial results give a much better picture of Switch 2's status, including figures from its first full quarter on the market. Any console from the big platform holders would be expected to sell well early doors, but numbers from July to September have maintained good momentum throughout a summer period where sales traditionally dry up in the biggest gaming territories.
To recap, Switch 2 has sold 10.36 million units since launch, causing the company to bump up its first-year sales forecast from 15 to 19 million ahead of the holidays. Software forecasts have also been bumped from 45 to 48 million.
