UK Charts: Yearly Physical Switch Game Sales Increased By 90.1% In 2018

90.2% would have been more impressive.

Of course, because physical is best

Awesome news 😅

@JHDK I agree, mediocre showing from Nintendo, honestly. And Smash is only 4th. Pretty disappointing.

EDIT: Okay, a lot of people in the comments think I'm actually disappointed. I was just kidding. It's hard to be upset with nearly doubling sales lol. Sorry for being unclear.

Some people just love to complain no matter what lol. I think these are good numbers. I like my PS4, but having the ability to play anywhere, be it on the couch, airplane, wherever, is pure awesomeness.

Physical sales on PS/XB are on the decline, as digital sales now make up almost 50% of all PS4 software sales (and the number is rapidly increasing, annually). The general consensus is that PS6/Xbox#5 will be all-digital consoles, and in time, physical game stores, like GameStop etc, are predicted to go the way of Blockbuster.

The main reason I buy physical on Nintendo, is because I don't want to buy expensive SD cards and I don't trust Nintendo's online infrastructure all that much right now. But that could change in time; if Nintendo were to make a system with ~1TB or storage and improved their online a bit, I think I would go all-digital, as it's more convenient, especially with a portable console.

Really good numbers for Nintendo especially as the uk for Nintendo is a weaker market and is open to growth. Expect a stronger 2019 with the line up, we think, is coming

I feel like the Switch has some of the best iterations of Nintendo games I have ever played. I am very pleased with my library so far and most of the Nintendo exclusive games I bought have seen around 200 hrs of gameplay, and some of those I could keep playing. It's been a great system for me.

What is it with you Brits and hating on Nintendo? Ya'll have no taste.

[edit] You guys do realize I'm joking with you, right?

IGN posted this on Twitter earlier

If its not over 100% then its not impressive.. lol

@Heavyarms55 it’s not that they hate Nintendo it’s just that unlike america Nintendo never saved the video game industry over here. The NES was an also ran. I had one as a kid but most other people had Sega master systems or micro computers(which sold millions). It was a much more competitive market and Nintendo never were at the top. Always bugged me as a kid as I always bought the Nintendo stuff but only a few ever had them.

@Heavyarms55 We like playing soldiers, supporting football and criminal activities (urban or rural). Nintendo just doesn't cater for the UK.

Why Battlefield 5 selling so strong
I love battlefield, but this game need to fail,

@OorWullie
That a lot of men wearing red!

@GrailUK so.... Nintendo finally have a shot in the UK?
Nintendo finally have high tier shooters and start getting more and more high tier conventional sport games
And I guess a port of GTA 5 is possible now that the switch have such a big install base

I still remember the days when the combined software market share for Wii U/3DS was well below 10%.

What a turnaround...

@Tantani Indeed. Metroid Prime 4 featuring the Federation marines, bounty hunting and Blast-ball could nail all three! (Samus just needs to curse more lol)

Still trying to find Katamari ReRoll physical in US. Every GameStop in my state is sold out. 😭 I didn’t think it would sell out so quickly with Smash’s release being the same day (and I foolishly didn’t preorder). Of course they are sold out online as well.

Any word on a restock? I guess I’ll resort to importing if necessary.

Anyone have a copy they’ll sell or know of a GameStop with one in stock? I’ll pay what’s necessary within reason.

I refuse to “own” my favorite third-party franchise digitally. Such a stupid retailer exclusive idea!

Please help this desperate fool. ❤️

physical is not dying just yet, hang in there!

Switch UK hardware sales:
> 2017: ~680,000
> 2018: ~815,000
> Total: ~1.5 million

Switch UK software sales:
> 2017: ~2.78 million
> 2018: ~5.28 million
> Total: ~8.06 million

Smash Bros Ultimate weekly sales:
> Week 1: ~135,000
> Week 2: ~65,000
> Week 3: ~49,000
> Week 4: ~35,000
> Total: ~284,000

Another added boon for 2019 is that Nintendo games will be more prolific on YouTube. From what I understand from Youtube's tears is that this means that Nintendo get free advertising and will increase revenue. So it's all good.

I need to find some other UK Switch owners so I can 100% Let’s Go Pikachu!

Why arent digital copies counted? They are the most Xxpen5ive! (till random mega sales)

@baller98 Thanks! 💕

@GrailUK I know this sounds a bit unlikely but I think Nintendo could benefit from bringing in smaller UK devs (and maybe other European teams) and helping them to develop there ideas in to something bigger and better. UK developers have a great history and a style unlike the rest of the industry. Imagine what some of these studios could do with the financial stability and support of Nintendo. Genres Nintendo just can't put a spin on themselves would be a lot more abundant. Saying this Nintendo would need to be a lot more open minded to make this happen and as much as I love them even I can admit they are not the most progressive forward thinking company.

@bluemage1989 Ye, more British companies on Switch would be a good thing More the merrier!

Mario Kart 8 DX sold more copies in 2018 than in 2017 in the UK.

It sold 330,000 retail copies in 2017, which means it sold at least another 330,000+ retail copies in 2018, bringing lifetime retail sales to 660,000+ copies at the bare minimum.

@bluemage1989 Totally agree that British/European games of yesteryear are different; recently picked up The C64 Mini... there are some really weird ideas on there. They make Rare’s Conker’s BFD seem a little more sane somehow.

@Heavyarms55 lol it’s much easier to love Nintendo nowadays in the UK. In the late 80s it was painful sometimes being a Nintendo fan, waiting and waiting forever for games to come out. Usually a year later than in the US. I remember reading gaming mags and waiting forever for castlevania and Mario 2. Then Mario bros 3 was out well over a year later! Imagine not getting Mario odyssey for over a year later than Europe lol.

@Antraxx777 glad you brought up a Rare game because they are a great example of a smaller studio that was supported and financed and grew massively and made some of best games of the N64. Games that could never have been made by Nintendo themselves. There is some immense talent in the UK gaming scene just begging for the chance to work on something bigger that there finances won't allow. Nintendo should take a chance and help elevate this talent to AA status and beyond.

That is very impressive considering that Europe and specially the UK have been generally PlayStation territory and kind of anti-Nintendo.
Good to know that people are broadening their options.

@cobalt I believe I saw you saying switch sales in Europe were poor lol (and this is one the worst markets for Nintendo in Europe anyway)

I guess it's better than what they were doing in the UK market, and I'm not even joking, the UK has terrible taste in games for the most part.

I'll never forget when Aliens: Colonial Marines hit #1 in that market🤣🤣🤣

If they don’t hit 20 mil it will be close enough to still be a win.

@Mr_Pepperami Indeedy. Budget micros like the Spectrum, Amstrad and C64 were cheap and had cheap (ie pirated) games by the hundreds. Nintendo sadly had no chance.

@yuwarite It's actually getting pretty reasonable to buy micro-sd cards. I had got a 64 GB for my Switch sometime last year and I saw it going for $11 now.

250GB is about $50 now. I think I will probably go digital going forward with the Switch. Nintendo exclusives themselves barely take up space, too.

Switch retail software sales in the UK in 2018:
> Mario Kart 8 DX: ~459,000 (LTD sales: ~800,000)
> Pokemon Let's Go Pikachu/Eevee: ~345,000
> Super Smash Bros Ultimate: ~284,000
> Super Mario Odyssey: ~241,000 (LTD sales: ~570,000)

@Agramonte
So Switch software sales accounted for 19.6% of the 2018 market before Smash Bros Ultimate, and was 24% of the market after Smash Bros Ultimate's release.

Seems pretty good.

"UK Charts: Yearly Physical Switch Game Sales Increased By 90.1% In 2018"

Correction: 90% of all the Switch-games is download only.

It is pretty good number for a system that been out for less than 2 years, even more when it is a Nintendo in the UK, it’s a pretty small market for Nintendo traditionally
The sheer idea that a Nintendo home console can challenge the 2 others in sales numbers in the UK is beyond impressive imo (although the Wii probably did it to lol)

Where are the 23-29 Japanese charts?