More UK Gamers Picked Switch This Year Than Xbox One

Hardly a surprise. Just watch the Jeremy Kyle show. Those people are only ever going to buy a console with GTA on it aren't they.

I hope this can continue throughout next year as well. But it also says a lot about where Microsoft is right now in terms of the Xbox One consoles.

That's not surprising given that Xbox One X is coming out later this year. People who want that of course wouldn't buy one of the existing models this year.

"One territory where the console is selling somewhat less swiftly is the United Kingdom, which, traditionally-speaking, has never been a Nintendo stronghold. During the 8 and 16-bit eras Sega was the dominant force in most of Europe, and by the time Sega's star began to fall, Sony had stolen the hearts and minds of UK players."

Y'know, pretty much everyone says that Nintendo wasn't very big in the UK so I'm not disputing the truth of this statement but that wasn't my experience at all.

Nintendo was way bigger for me and my friends than Sega in the late 80's/early 90's in Wales and though we had the Speccy and Amiga etc that was mostly for coding and because the games could be bought so cheaply, Nintendo was always the cream of the crop for us. Plus Gameboys were everywhere, everyone had one. Nobody had a GameGear except for that one weird kid.

Maybe my social circle was an oddly pro-Nintendo bubble or something.

Would be interesting to see some actual figures to see how the 3 compare since the Switch Launched.

I was in Smyths the other day and they did have Switches in stock but I don't think anyone would be foolish enough to deny that the Switch hasn't been anything other than a runaway success so far.

@Grumblevolcano At the price of the Xbox One X, Microsoft is marketing itn towards the hardcore fan base whom already own the Xbox one and are looking at it as an upgrade. Most people who want an Xbox One are likely to just get the S model.

@admwllms

I agree and I'd say it was the same for me.

Maybe I was too young to fully understand at the time but I don't remember the Mega drive being anymore popular than the SNES when they were at their peeks

I would be shocked it the Switch came close to overtaking the PS4 anywhere. It just has too much of a lead. But the Switch seems likely to, if it hasn't already, prove itself a successful system. Further, it's not meant to directly compete with PS4 or Xbone. That'd be like saying a motorcycle is made to compete directly with a sports car. There is some overlap, but they are made for different audiences.

@Heavyarms55 In Japan I would say there's a good chance the Switch would overtake the PS4, but that is because the PS4 hasn't had the dominance the previous consoles have had due to ever growing handheld/mobile market.

@FragRed Apparently Xbox One X was the most preordered Xbox though.

AlexKidd and sonic just blew us all away in uk

@admwllms same here. Only knew of one friend with a megadrive, rest of us had SNES'. There were plenty of Nintendo magazines, not just an official one, so there must've been a few of us with good taste.

The SNES was definitely bigger in my town when growing up but that all changed when the original PlayStation came out!

But don't worry guys I've been flying the Nintendo banner high and always will 😀

@Grumblevolcano That is true, I was just going by what Phil Spencer has said about the market they consider the Xbox One X to fill. These are the consoles that has an Elite Controller designed for that hardcore player base with games as a service being the preferred route for exclusives going forward, again something I would consider to be for the hardcore Xbox fans. Even the achievement system is being updated to recognise this.

I loved xbox 360 and still have it. But xbox one didn't get my attention. Nothing really much to offer. Hardly any exclusive titles and most are also on PC. Xbox X though does get my attention being able to play original xbox games. So i can replay them once more. I have like 50 games on collecting dust. I hope the X will make people go buy it eventually. But as it is now... i don't see reason

Xbox is a joke in my country Indonesia.
No one talking about, even xbox1.
If there is someone talking about, they are very few (0.5 - 1% maybe) fans.
Even my local game shops (Almost) NEVER Sold xbox games (except some old shops that still sold some Pirated copies of xbox360 games, but it seems they don't sell anymore right now)

@stevejcrow Same with me - all Nintendo heads until the PS1 era and even then, N64 was pretty close behind. Goldeneye 4eva.

yeah i grew up with Atari Sega mega drive Master system, i used to trade systems with my cousin though to play the snes like mario, world lylat wars, super mario kart (star fox) and others but i know a lot of people here had the xbox 360. not surprising many jumped ship after the botched launch of the xbox one... now being dubbed xbox none

Also the switch could really take off with games like pokemon and mario yet to hit the system tbh.

@admwllms Same here.

But maybe it was different amongst people slightly older than myself and there were plenty of Sega kids too. And home computers like the Amiga, Speccy and C64 were still around.

They've always been a reasonable presence in the market here (despite what some would have you believe). That Nintendo was never truly dominant here in the UK as it was elsewhere though I don't think is in doubt.

XBox One has been severely hobbled this year by the announcement of the XBox One X last year. It's a tough sell with that on the horizon - even if you don't want the One X it'll probably come hand in glove with big discounts for the One S.

Still outselling a console that should be in its mature phase is obviously better than not outselling it.

@admwllms also grew up in Wales and pretty much the same as you. Early nineties most of my friends had Nintendo and I didn't even know about the game gear til a few years ago thanks to YouTube.

@Heavyarms55 anywhere? It'll overtake it in Japan in under 2-years, tops--after that, you get into the vagaries of when the PS4 is put out to pasture, re: the other territories.

Remember: I'm an Xbox One player second, but a Nintendo fan first.
And I'll say... atta boy, Switch. Atta boy.
To be honest, given that "This is for the player" can't be read unironically anymore, I'm also not looking forward to Nintendo to be in the top spot, because market leaders tend to, what's the word, not care about their userbase. In any market.
Take Whatsapp for example. I use Whatsapp because, well, everyone uses it, and where's our "move to SD card" update? Nowhere to be seen, although according to the FAQ it's still in the cards. Why? Because Whatsapp is the most used messaging app on phones, so why should they care about addressing complaints?
Now back to the gaming industry, remember how Xbox One's before-release stance was?
And look at them now. Backwards compatibility? Backpedaled about their controversial statement in a hurry, now Xbox 360 (and eventually Xbox) games are on it. Always online? Not necessarily. Used games? Dunno about that one, but sure. Heck, there are even refunds now!
Furthermore, the WiiU. It didn't sell, plain and simple. But for us who got it? Man, what we got. Super Mario 3D World. Mario Kart 8 with the best-priced season pass in gaming history, period. Splatoon. Smash. And that fateful day, on Nintendolife, what we thought to be flying-pigs territory? Cue two years of lack of sales, and lo and behold, we got the car keys. Still not enough sales? Let's drive the car wherever we want.

Bottom-line: a console playing catch-up is always a good thing, as long as it doesn't actually catch up.

That's pretty good considering it was out of stock for months after launch and in a territory where many just want the latest football/shooting game. Yes the X would have had some impact but I suspect a large portion of those preorders are simply people upgrading and if you look at the PlayStation, the standard PS4 still outsells the Pro.

Switch is the best console I've owned for many years, recently I've grown tired of yearly updates of the same games and developers chasing higher pixel counts rather than making games more fun. That is the key word, I've had more fun on Switch then anything since the N64 days and with Mario coming soon plus a sprinkling of so called AAA ports it looks like achieving a happy medium

@Anti-Matter Xbox one usually doesn't do well in Asian countries but elsewhere it does good.

The UK will follow Sony anywhere as long as they keep churning out Playstations. I love my Switch, but over here, it's agiven that you have a PS4 (or playstation of somekind) no matter your social circle.

I wasn't sure whether or not to post this story, both in to the site and in the forums. Decided against because I'd be accused of negativity. I think this guy is only confirming what we all know. Switch is a distant second in the UK, they have been for a long time. You can see it when Switch games release, they can't topple PS4 games that have already been out weeks or in some cases, years.

Here in Ireland I still haven't seen a single Switch ad and the thing is 6 months old. Don't hear my friends, family or anyone in general talk about it. I haven't seen anybody out in the wild playing a Switch. The only place I see talk is on an Irish forum in a Nintendo subsection that I frequent.

@ANeonChicken I think it because it was never officially released there. Plus Xbox live is not working there too I think

@admwllms same in Cumbria 😁

The Switch has the advantage of being a newly released console, but it's still great to see it doing well.

Just out of curiosity, what's the Xbox exclusive line-up looked like so far this year in 2017? I can' think of any honestly and I own an Xbox One. PS4 has had Horizon, Gravity Rush 2, Nioh and Nier Automata. (Edit: Persona 5) So there has been reasons for people to by PS4s this year, not too many for X1. MAybe Destiny 2 has changed that, but it's also on PS4.

So, what are the Switch and Xbox TOTALS for UK? Xbox has already been out for years, maybe everybody in the UK who wants one already has one?

@SLIGEACH_EIRE Hardly surprising when the software available to a much larger user base is obviously going to sell more,but then Sony exclusives sell far less then third party titles. UK gamers are generally only buying a PS4 for FIFA,GTA,COD,Assassins Creed,Battlefield as they're really the epitome of casual titles so its not really surprising

I'd like to think Nintendo can get a bigger hold of the UK market but really don't see much changing,they've had an entire generation just view them with the tired term(and inaccurate)'Kiddy console' company because their games aren't full of blood,violence ,bad language etc.Unfortunately most deem games to be only worth the attention if this criteria is in these games.Or you know the graphics and power are the most important things as buzz words are tossed around like 'hardcore gamers'.I still don't know what that even applies to

I think a lot of it is to do with perception. The Switch is given the same amount of shelf space as second hand PS3 games (sometimes less) in GAME. If I didn't know better, I would presume the system was dead before it started. We don't all read Nintendo websites. Also, taste etc, but that has been covered in other comments.

@AlanJones84 actually, its a common misconception that the Sega Genesis outsold the SNES in North America. Sega of America concealed its numbers after reporting in 1992 that they had 55% marketshare. Most contemporary sources believe after this date, the SNES began outselling the Genesis in NA. http://m.ign.com/articles/2009/03/20/genesis-vs-snes-by-the-numbers I owned both in the 90s.

Most of my fellow gamers in 1990s UK were Amiga owners but, after that, it was a pretty even split between Sega and Nintendo, in my experience. I was also admittedly the weird kid with a Game Gear - great machine, by the way, provided you sat near the plug socket - but I was by no means the only one. There were a few more Game Boys than GGs around, but only by a very small margin. I think Sega just seemed cooler than Nintendo at the time - even then, Ninty was viewed as more of a kids' machine (at least by Sega kids).

In other news, I saw my first other Switch in the wild the other day, on a late-night commute back from London. We compared joy-con colours and software libraries. Definitely feels like a very happy community. I don't think you get that same shared joy with Sony (though I loved my PSP back in the day).

@admwllms Over here i didn't even know Nintendo had home consoles until the N64 hit the stores lol... But when Sega fell Nintendo finally took the throne (for me of course).

@Shellcore Well the uninformed tend to shop in GAME as they don't know any better.Its a shite company and should have gone under a few years ago. They still haven't learnt as their prices are ridiculous and their Nintendo space within stores has always been a joke.It wouldn't matter if the Switch was the market leader,Sony and XBOX would still be the focal points in their stores with the larger displays. The stores I've been in haven't got Switch set ups to even get your hands on whereas there are PS4/XBOX consoles hooked up to large TV's. The biggest problem for Nintendo in the UK is markets attitude to them and they've been viewed a certain way for a number generations unfortunately.They're never going to be seen as the 'cool' platform to play on. I don't care personally,I'll happily sit my Switch in table top mode on the commute into work everyday and on breaks at work

Well xbone doesn't really have a lot of great exclusives and PS4 does

@Aurumonado It has enough. Forza horizon 3, Halo Wars 2, Gears of War 4, Halo 5, Cuphead, Crackdown 3, Sea of thieves, Forza motorsport 6 and 7.

Not surprised by the UK bashing in these comments anymore, but the fact is, the UK is one of the most open-minded markets for video games out there. Everyone here is saying UK is 'Sony territory' now, but last gen, the same people would claim the UK is 'MS territory'. Fact is, the UK doesn't blindly follow any brand. Sega, Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft have all have their machines come out on top at some point.

What's the best selling console this gen in the US and worldwide? It's the PS4, same as the UK. Last gen, the UK and US followed exactly the same pattern of the Wii being the sales leader before it just stopped selling suddenly and the 360 overtook it in BOTH markets. Before that, PS2 was the clear winner in the US and the UK. The two markets almost always go the same way every time, but everyone here clings to this narrative that the UK hates Nintendo and the US love them.

I don't know if this is just people clinging to the NES/SNES era, but that's all down to Nintendo. At that time, they weren't really focused on a global market. They let other companies handle the release of the NES in the UK and Europe and the whole operation was pathetic. As a result, Nintendo weren't part of everyone's childhood like the NES was over in the US. Can you imagine how most people would think of Nintendo if you took away the NES and SNES?

@Krillin_ I think the fact that Nintendo operates on a slightly smaller scale in the UK gives us a kind of 'cult' community feeling. Like Apple owners in the 90's.

If you own a Switch that's like the secret handshake and if you can converse with someone about the arcane secrets of forthcoming Nintendo Direct timings and content then they can probably direct you to the local Nintendo-masons lodge.

@Dakt
A lot of people bought a GameBoy, DS and Wii for sure.

@SLIGEACH_EIRE So, the games on a console that has been extremely succesful since 2013 have better sales than the games on a console that has 6 months? Shocking.

Wow... Did they just beat on a dead horse to try and win a point for the Switch in the UK? You know things not going well when you need to compare yourself with the looser from the last round.

Nintendo just needs to fix their game lineup and pricing and they can do fine in Europe.

@SLIGEACH_EIRE Well if you haven't heard people talking about the switch in IRELAND it mustn't be doing that well right?? Ireland has the population of the metropolitan area of Rome... i don't think it's anywhere near a relevant market...

@Oscarzxn No, I'm talking about how when new Switch games release they can't chart higher than games that have saturated sales on other platforms.

@ANeonChicken No way Cuphead is out yet, I'll go check. Sept 29th.

How many people have bought an Xbox 1 this year for Cuphead weeks or months before it's released? 1? 2 maybe?

Forza 7 doesn't release until Oct 3rd. I'll grant you some people may have bought a X1 in 2017 in anticipation of that game, but it still hasn't released yet in 2017.

Halo Wars 2, Feb 21. OK, you finally found an Xbox 1 exclusive that has actually already released in 2017. One. My best guess would be most people buying an Xbox for any Halo game already bought one 2 or 3 years ago. And if they hadn't already, they probably got one during a sale over the holidays knowing HW2 was out in Feb. But yes, some peopel woudl have bought an X1 on Feb 21st when HW2 released.

So that's 1 game, one X1 exclusive that has already released in 2017 that people may have purchased an X1 for. And I still think most of those people would have purchased an X1 before 2017.

And yes, I do own an Xbox One, original model but w/ 1TB HDD. Did you actually read the article? Or my comment - "the Xbox exclusive line-up looked like so far this year in 2017"? Emphasis added.

@Nico85 It is not doing well in Europe (or not as well) I can have my cousin send me 10 switch from Madrid if I feel like. People not making lines to get one.

Better example... when was the last time anyone gave UK/EU numbers? Everyone puts out Japan numbers the day they come out. Or news how it is SOLD OUT everywhere in japan.

Amazon Uk, Spain, France all have them in stock ready to ship. If the Switch would sell millions more if just for supply - Europe would be the largest selling market - supply is everywhere.

Wow, it was one thing when the WiiU outsold the XBox One in Japan. But now Switch is outselling it in the UK?

We'll always have Redmond.

@Peach64
Exactly. People here always bashing the UK market seem to be under the illusion that their country is some sort of real life Nintendo Land. I mean, the US market hasn't had a dominant Nintendo home console since the 80s. NES (dominant), SNES (dominant overall thanks to Japan, but in the US; pretty much tied with the Genesis), N64 (lost), GameCube (lost), Wii (lost), Wii U (lost). It's hardly a record to brag about. Plus, Nintendo's handhelds have always been dominant in the UK, so again, there's not as much difference as some people here seem to believe.

@ANeonChicken Yes I do think before typing, do you? You are the one who asked "Do you actually own an Xbox One?" Obviously you thought about it after b/c I see you went back and edited your comment, probably b/c you realized it looked rude, even if you didn't intend it to be. But you still changed it. FYI if you are new here the replies are sent in email, here's a copy and paste from my email inbox from you to me:

Forza 7, Halo Wars 2 which was great, Cuphead. Do you actually own an xbox one?

So yes, if it appeared I was rude to your reply, well I was, b/c I felt your comment, asking me if I actually owned an Xbox One when I said I did in my original comment, 2nd sentence, was rude on your part. Here's my original comment, which I don't feel was rude or disparaging to the X1, I was just asking a question -

"Just out of curiosity, what's the Xbox exclusive line-up looked like so far this year in 2017? I can' think of any honestly and I own an Xbox One. "

All I was doing was asking a question, stating I was an Xbox owner. A lot of people on here only own Ntinedo systems. So maybe you were only asking if I owned an Xbox One, maybe you didn't read that part, but I can only reply to what I read in my inbox, I can't know what's it's somebody's mind. Thats' why I use a lot of these and I almost never reply on here anymore to people I don't know, people are quick to jump on you.

"Also Nier is not an exclusive for the PS4 since it came out for PC as well."

Ok, so I missed that one, I think Sony, MS or Ninteod would say "console exclusive". You missed my comment 2 days ago about how the word "exclusive" should be banned from gaming b/c it doesn't mean anything anymore, too many adjectives - timed, limited, console - it's meaningless. But Xbox didn't get it, so no reason to buy an Xbox for that anyway.

"Does it give you pleasure when you bash a console"

No, certainly not one that I own. And as I already stated I wasn't bashing it. I don't see how listing games for it can be considered bashing it. Where did I bash it? Give me 1 copy and paste from my original comment that's a "bash". just one.

Here's some advice -
If you don't want people to be rude to you in anonymous forums, never, never ever, write the phrase - "Do you actually.." in your first post to them. Why question strangers honesty? By saying "do you actually" or "do you even" you are calling somebody a liar. Most people don't like to be called liars, it's make them defensive. Walking up to somebody and saying "I think your a liar, let's be friends" well that's not a great beginning.

Also, if you type a reply to someone you don't know, expect the worst. Makes it that much better when you get a good reply in return.

And never try to demean someone by calling them a young age. Only young people do that. Adults don't say "What are you "fill in age here"?. Teenagers. Maybe young adults, but real people don't try to insult people with the age thing. And I'm 52, if you want to insult me by my age you need to go with the old age insults, not the young ones.

What is more telling is that the XBO cant even outsell the (up until recently) supply-constrained Switch in Nintendo's weakest major market (which happens to be Microsoft's 2nd biggest market).

The "Nintendo is in distant 3rd" mantra needs to stop.

The UK doesn't provide concrete hardware sales data, but the US does through leaks. I mention this because the US is quite similar to the UK in terms of market trends.

January 2017 - July 2017 US hardware sales:
PS4: 1.99 million
Switch: 1.79 million
XBO: 1.01 million

@Grumblevolcano

Not totally correct. Microsoft itself said it expects the Xbox One S to still outsell the X model. And that's because you absolutely need a 4K TV to truly enjoy it, so unless you have one, you're dishing out for much more than a console. I don't know about the U.K., but in the US that combo will run about $1k.

@westman98

Without shortages, I think the Switch outsells the PS4 this year.

The Xbox brand is in big trouble due to the lack of exclusive games. MSFT has not announced sales totals in over a year, which tells you it's not doing well at all.

I like the Xbox, I have an S console with a 4K TV, which I purchased for $190 on eBay, brand new, mostly so Icould watch 4K media (it's the cheapest 4K player available ) but unless they ramp up exclusives soon, I cannot imagine purchasing any more xboxs going forward. And I love Gears of War, but one great series isn't enough.

I also own a PS4, and it's exclusives are clearly superior.

Maybe my fellow countrymen are converting from normyism.

@SLIGEACH_EIRE
Ahhh...the classic "if Product X isn't obliterating the competition in every way, then it must be a flop." I'd expect you to say that.

@SLIGEACH_EIRE "Here in Ireland I still haven't seen a single Switch ad and the thing is 6 months old. Don't hear my friends, family or anyone in general talk about it. I haven't seen anybody out in the wild playing a Switch. The only place I see talk is on an Irish forum in a Nintendo subsection that I frequent."

The thing is their marketing campaign is most likely targeted to reach the highest number of people in areas where they can make the most revenue. They just need to advertise in the London region alone and they'll reach more people than the whole of Ireland 3 times over.

Add to that Ireland is one of the most expensive countries in the Euro zone and the ad agency handling Ireland would most likely be quite bare bones at best...I get the feeling Ireland wasn't high on their priorities.

@SLIGEACH_EIRE @WiltonRoots NoE/NUK competence really can't be used as a factor to judge Switch momentum. NoE doesn't care overmuch about the UK market as a whole it seems, and NUK's got like 30 years of failure to build on.

@Grumblevolcano exactly.

@NEStalgia yep, hence me saying they would most likely limit their marketing to major metropolitan areas, of which there are none in Ireland - Dublin, maybe Cork at a push. They've definitely marketed a lot better than they did with the Wii U that's for certain but that's not exactly hard.

@westman98 "Ahhh...the classic "if Product X isn't obliterating the competition in every way, then it must be a flop." I'd expect you to say that."

Show me please where I said the Switch is a "flop"? You expect me to make some phantom statement that you plucked from your backside? I never said that, in fact, I've said several times that it's a success so far.

Nothing will stop the giant that is the PS4 but doing better than the Xbox that's very impressive.

I'm surprised there are still people who think your average Joe in the UK will skip out on buying a dirt cheap XBO S (bundled with a bunch of free games) right now and instead spend twice the money to buy an XBO X just to play the same games in 4K.

XBO sales are slow because of the lack of new exclusive content coupled with the PS4's plethora of current exclusive content.

Xbox was never as popular as Playstation in UK

@AlanJones84 Also Amiga sold 1,500,000 units in UK. Was pretty popular at late 80's, early 90's.