Nintendo Switch Has Now Sold 36.87 Million Units, Could Pass SNES Total By Christmas

The Joy-con problem could dampened the sales. None of any Nintendo consoles had controller problem like that. The Nintendo Seal of Quality had drifted.

This system has legs!

Whatever the problems with the Joycons, the Switch has that Mojo - it is a cool system, and it will continue to sell.

What’s interesting is where Nintendo will go from here in about three or four years time.

This could easily be one of their top 3 consoles (home and handheld), especially if the 7 year life-cycle and new iterations come to fruition. Great to see the Switch doing so well!

My prediction is that it will hit around the 60 million mark by the end of it's lifespan. I predict that Nintendo will need to release either some kind of Switch Pro or Switch 2 around 2020 or 2021 at the latest, otherwise the hype of PS5 and Xbox Guacamole will smother it. The Switch is still the newest toy, but once Sony and Microsoft release their new devices that advantage will go away.

@nintendolie Probably not. The problem is not new and until the recent media coverage, it hasn´t stoped anyone from buying a Switch. Nintendo know how to do PR, so they stress the fact, that they offer "free repairs".
Anyway, if you Joy-Con had issues within the first two years (or ine year, depending on your country) it was repaired for free anyway. So not sure why this should stop the momentum.

@Heavyarms55 I will wait with ane stimation after the first year of the Switch Lite, which will/should count into the Switchs total sales (just like they combined all Wii-Iterations into one number). If it can convince the customer to be the perfect replacement for the Gameboy, who knows where we will end?

@mazzel Not at 200 dollars. The Switch Lite is a serious downgrade with only a slight cost reduction. The Game Boy was less than half the price of NES. The Switch Lite is 2/3 the cost of the full Switch. I would not recommend the Lite to anyone. Better to save that extra 100 bucks and get the strictly better product.

So they have not sold any 2DS?
Have the lumped them in with the 3DS or just the normal DS?

@Heavyarms55 Let the market decide
It´s also not for me, as I like the Switch for what it is! Maybe see it more lik1e a 3DS replacement than the original Gameboy... We will see

@Heavyarms55 not a chance.

The Switch is coming into its mature years on the market. Sales are likely to increase. PS5 and XBox Two on the market will simply make it easier for Nintendo to position Switch as a budget option. Expect a “players choice” range late next year and Switch Lite bundles with one or two games (digital).

A £200 Switch Lite with MK8 and NSMBU thrown in for free (with a dozen other games available for less than £20) will be relatively easy to market.

...of course the really valuable Switch owners already own the console.

@mazzel I mean people can do what they want, but I would not recommend the Switch Lite to anyone. As far as I am concerned it is not worth it for the price. It's like paying for 2/3 of a pizza but only getting a little less than half of the pizza.

@StuTwo The thing is, when the Switch dropped, most people who wanted PS4 or Xbone pretty much already had them. But PS5 and Xbox Spaghetti will be the new toys on the market and at least will be a big distraction. It's not gonna be like the Switch dies abruptly but suddenly people will be dividing up their limited spending money much more again.

@Dellybelly it is actually a big year on year growth
This quarter last year it sold only 1.88 million at this quarter
So they shouldn’t be worried about their goal for now with the stupidly amazing backlog coming for the rest of the year

@Dellybelly Again, the article points out this is a slow time of year for the industry, I wouldn't worry about it too much. It's Q4 when most of the sales are made.

So sales up year on year which is good. The system has a very heavy back half of the year with a revised model coming (Lite in September). The system should pass both SNES and NES no trouble...

Is that software sales figure correct? That would make the average Switch owner have 6 games each and given this seems to be the generation of the self-confessed "collector" everyone I know owns more than that (without boasting, I have 130+ physical games on my own).

At this rate the Switch might actually surpass the Wii in sales

@Heavyarms55 A $100 reduction is slight? Haha.

I'd never choose a Switch Lite over the full-fledged model if I'm only buying one system, but there are situations where a Lite makes sense. I might want to buy one for my child so he/she can play the Switch games I already own on his/her own system. Of a family with three kids, for the same price as two full-fledged Switch systems, could buy three Switch Lites, one for each child.

@Heavyarms55 A $100 price drop is significant to the average consumer, and it puts the Switch Lite in the exact same price range as the Nintendo 3DS. It'll sell EXTREMELY well. Nintendo knows what they're doing.

Still don't understand your weird anger about it. The Lite is a fantastic deal for people who don't care about playing Switch games on the TV, it'll feel sturdier as a single unit without removable joycons, and the decreased size will make it more comfortable to play as a handheld system. Even I want one.

@Dellybelly Where do you see that the PS4 outsold Switch by 50%? Everywhere I look with sales figures (NPD, etc), the Switch has been the best selling console week after week. It regularly tops the charts in North America, and beats PS4 in Japan (and surpassed it lifetime there as well) by a margin of 4 to 1 or greater. It's even been performing very well recently in markets that Nintendo usually struggles, like the UK.

@gamer95
Xbox One was maybe the only reason, PS4 had such a good start (and the Playstation brand itself). Two years after launch and everything you got was mediocre exclusives, last generation ports and indies.

Yet still no madden or nhl

@flapjack-ashley
https://twitter.com/zhugeex/status/1156107608551546880?s=21

@Heavyarms55 the thing is that the people who’re potentially in the market for a budget 4 year old piece of tech at less than £200 that’s (most likely) baited with a game (MK8) that’s twice as old as that are not the same people who are making up the majority of the target audience for a brand new cutting edge £400 piece of tech (without a game included and no budget software lineup).

There’s overlap - sure - and PS5 & XBox Whatever will impact on the games that are released on Switch & the number of new releases Switch owners buy (& the types of games they buy) but they won’t stop Nintendo having a fantastic time of it in 2020 and 2021.

To think of it in another way - Sony and Microsoft will basically be abandoning 100 million plus gamers and catering (for at least 12 months) to less than 20 million.

@Heavyarms55 And like paying for the cheesy crust without getting the actual cheese...

@Dellybelly @Saizo Interesting! I wonder where NPD and Media Crate/Famitsu get their numbers from because those reports have shown the Switch being the leader almost all year, week after week - sometimes by wide margins.

I'm surprised, but thanks for enlightenment.

Great numbers!

Switch Lite and Pokemon will push the number pretty close to the SNES total by Christmas I reckon.

2020 will be a key year for the Switch. Will we see a Pro model announced and released? Will BotW2 and/or MP4 be launched in 2020? What's going on with Super Mario Odyssey 2 and Mario Kart?

Fun times ahead.

@nocdaes MP4 won't be 2020 since Retro had to restart the development from scratch. (2021 earliest), and I think the Switch Pro will launch either late 2020 or early 2021.

@nocdaes BotW2 and MP4 are not coming out in 2020, especially MP4, as much as I would love for them to come out next year. Mario Kart 9 is not happening on the switch with Mario Kart 8 Deluxe selling way too well for them to make another one, not to mention the fact that Mario Kart Tour hasn't come out yet. Super Mario Odyssey 2 would be awesome!

@Ralizah As long as you don't want to read Fire Emblem text boxes on one

@nintendolie The mass market is entirely unaware of a "problem" at all - that's only for people who hound gaming news sites which is certainly less than 15% of their total market.

@Heavyarms55
The Switch will sell-in 60 million units before the end of Holiday 2020. The PS5 and Scarlett arent going to impact the Switch at all.

Lifetime Switch sales will land between 90-100 million. More if the Switch 2 is released after 2022.there is no chance that Switch sales fall behind 3DS sales.

@electrolite77
Holiday 2021 sounds like the earliest possible release date for Prime 4. That would give Retro exactly 3 years of development time, assuming the reboot happened in late 2018

Spring/summer 2022 is a safer bet.

@NEStalgia I only have an issue reading FE text boxes when I'm playing on the TV.

@Ralizah I'm as near-sighted as it gets, and FE is one of only 2 or 3 games I've ever found it hard to read text on a small screen. That fond/size would be fine on an ultra high res "Retina" type display, Samsung phone, etc. But the DPI isn't fine enough on Switch for that kind of text. I doubt I could even see text existed at all if it were on the TV Seriously at Lite size, without being ultra high dpi...it may just look like gibberish.

@nintendolie It hasn't "dampened" any sales. This is a normal slow period. Look at last year for this quarter, it was even less.

@AnnoyingFrenzy Yea, I think the big question is surely what is the holiday 2020 title? There has to be something big in the Oct-Dec window.

Could BotW2 be far enough along to launch then? We have at least had a proper trailer at the reveal - not just a logo.

Super Mario Odyssey 2 feels like a formality - but could it be coming sooner than holiday 2020 - we're at the 2 year mark in October, and we've had the devs talking about all the content that didn't make the final game?

Metroid Prime 4 is surely 2021 - assuming Retro can still manage to release a game - but the rumoured HD Trilogy in 2020 would be a bonus.

Mario Kart - this is an interesting one. MK8 Deluxe is smashing it on the sales, you're right, but it's a very old title now. Has that team been working on the mobile title? Is there going to be a 9th installment? Will they branch out into another franchise ala Diddy Kong Racing? Could we see some additional DLC launch?

Factoring in the launch of the Switch Lite, the new Pokémon, Luigi’s Mansion 3, Link’s Awakening, and the existing library, I would be surprised if it didn’t surpass the SNES by Christmas!

@nocdaes While we did get an entire trailer for BotW 2, I still am not sure when the game will actually come out. My hunch is that it will come out early 2020 as a Spring or Summer release, maybe alongside the release of a Switch Pro model.

Super Mario Odyssey 2 is most likely the Holiday game of 2020 in my prediction, Odyssey 1 was the holiday game of its year after all. I could see Odyssey 2 getting unveiled in the March direct as the "One more thing" with a massive unveiling at E3.

I desperately want MPT, that is easily my favorite game trilogy. It only makes sense to release that game in fall of 2020 IF MP4 is sometime in 2021.

There is definitely going to be a 9th Mario Kart, and it would be cool if it had a story mode like CTR (I'll just take mission mode at the very least in terms of that kind of content tbh). I just believe that they won't release it on the Switch, instead I thnk they will be focusing it as a launch title for their next system. I don't think Mario Kart 8 is getting any more substantial DLC either. I believe if it was going to it would have already happened. The game has been out since early 2017 after all.

Too bad the Switch doesn't have the great library like the Super Nintendo. Releasing junk like ARMS, Mario Tennis Aces and Super Mario Party isn't going to top the Super Nintendo.

Another quarterly that shows why Nintendo making a LITE

You have 3.2 million who decided to pick up a PS4. They didn't pick a "hybrid $300" Switch - that pitch is done. So now try and sell them a "200 Handheld"

Make up that 1 million deficit. Making it financialy easier, Gamers will get both.

@koaeinferno Every console’s library will have plenty of stinkers, the SNES ain’t perfect on that front. Just look at how many bad Mario edutainment titles were released on it.

@koaeinferno

Switch

-Splatoon 2
-Mario Odyssey
-LoZ: BotW
-Mario Kart 8 Deluxe
-Xenoblade 2
-Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
-Hollow Knight
-Cuphead
-Celeste
-Octopath Traveller
-Golf Story
-DKC: Tropical Freeze
-Super Mario Maker 2
-Fire Emblem: Three Houses
-Stardew Valley
-Mario + Rabbids
-Pokémon: Let’s Go
-Sonic Mania
-Doom
-Wolfenstein II
-Dragon Quest 11
-South Park: SoT/FBW
-Dark Souls Remaster
-Hellblade
-Mortal Kombat 11
-Final Fantasy 7-9
-Resident Evil 4-6
-Castlevania Collection
-Contra Collection
-Street Fighter Anniversary Collection
-Crash NSane Trilogy
-Spyro
-Crash Team Racing
-Collection of Mana
-the upcoming Link’s Awakening Remake
-Luigi’s Mansion 3 (October)
-Pokémon Sword and Shield
-Astral Chain
-the upcoming Bayonetta 3
-Bayonetta 1 and 2
-Daemon X Machina
-Animal Crossing (March)
-Dead Cells
-Witcher III
-Dragon Quest Builder
-Minecraft
-countless arcade games from the likes of Sega, SNK, Data East, Capcom, Konami, and Nintendo themselves

Yes, there are several games that are rereleases/anthologies, but they’re still great games and they contribute to a library that is Nintendo’s most impressive in a very long time.

little bit surprised its at 37 million

@nintendolie While I totally agree with you on the decrease in build quality - and I said from day one that the Joycons are a really cheap product and it was confirmed by tech-savvy Youtubers long before any talk of Joycon drift - it won't really hurt Nintendo's sales numbers. Their customers are mostly not tech-savvy, most have probably never heard of Joycon drift. It's still sell like hot cakes even though it's a cheap product. It's basically Apple's strategy - sell s****y products with huge profits.

The Lite will sell crazy numbers. Nintendo revisions always do because they hit NEW customers but huge percentages of existing owners rebuy hardware too.

Hopefully they bring a Nintendo Selects range to the Switch at the same time!

@BanjoPickles I didn't buy a Switch to play old games. I bought it for Nintendo's 1st party and so far here are only like 5 good games for the thing. The Snes has like 100 games worth playing that were exclusive to it.

So I think it’s safe to say it’s a success!
I’m looking forward to see how much more it’s going to sell as there are things not even implemented yet that can make it’s sell like hot cakes...the upcoming games like shin megami, Witcher 3, Metroid 4, breath of the wild 2 etc and also more games to online library, like 64, GameCube, wii, 3ds being added, and other apps and internet.
The switch is capable of a lot, I personally think they have found a system that is only going to evolve for many years to come.

@Agramonte
Nintendo would be pretty stupid if they tried to ship an additional 1 million Switches last quarter just to match PS4 numbers when there is a more power efficient and cheaper-to-manufacture revision releasing in the coming days/weeks.

What I'd like to see is a more direct comparison. Those are all figures at end of life for the other consoles whereas Switch is only two years in. If you made a comparison at two years for all contenders it would be more fair

At this point I don’t think it’s unreasonable to say the Switch is challenging the SNES for best lineup of games ever, and I think that’s what’s really selling the system. Probably 10 big Ninty published games a year, 10 relatively strong 3rd party games, and a bunch of Indie and obscure JRGs.

This is a much healthier business plan that the Wii where we had not much more than 15 good 1st party games on the system and very little other support, most of it in the first 3 years.

Switch has sold more than PS4 in Japan, which is interesting though not surprising since it's also a handheld system.

@westman98 Also harder-to-jailbreak. ;-/

I didnt realize this until now, but total NSW software sales have now surpassed total GCN softeare sales.

Nintendo refusing to raise their FY2019 Switch software forecast of 125 million is pretty funny, considering that they have already shipped 22 million copies of software during FY2019 Q1, up 26% YoY.

Not bad for only being on the market for 28, going on 29 months.

PS4 is breaking 100M sales.
How long until Switch catches up? Obvs Sony had a 3 year lead there. Just wondering what the rates will be.

@westman98 That's a very optimistic viewpoint. I doubt it but I would welcome it. I am fine with being wrong if things go better than I expect.

But saying PS5 and Xbox Pistachio will not affect Switch sales at all is naive. People only have so much spending money and when new toys are released, it pulls some people away.

@koaeinferno

Side by side, if you’re looking at only first party games, it’s actually more equal than you think:

SNES had one Mario, Switch has one new Mario and a rerelease

SNES had one Zelda, Switch has one new Zelda and an upcoming Remake.

SNES had the DKC trilogy, Switch has DKC: Tropical Freeze

SNES had Fire Emblem as a Japan exclusive while Switch has Three Houses.

SNES had Super Metroid, while Switch is getting Metroid Prime 4

SNES had Super Mario Kart, while Switch has Mario Kart 8.

SNES had Kirby Superstar and Dreamland 3 while Switch has Star Allies

SNES had Yoshi’s Island, Switch has Crafted World.

1st party SNES games that don’t have a Switch sequel

-Pilotwings
-F-Zero
-Ken Griffey Jr. Baseball
-Earthbound
-Super Punch Out
-Starfox
-Super Mario RPG

1st party Switch games that didn’t appear on SNES

-Arms
-Splatoon 2
-Super Smash Ultimate
-Xenoblade 2
-Hyrule/FE Heroes
-Luigi’s Mansion 3
-the upcoming Animal Crossing

What you’re probably referring to is the 3rd party support. SNES is one of my all-time favorite consoles, and I would agree with you that SNES had some of the best 3rd party exclusives of all time.....but those exclusives have become a rarity across the board. It’s impractical for third parties to commit to one platform.

To say that Switch has five games, though? Even Atari Jaguar had more than five good games! Lol

@StuTwo Valid points, but there are also always people getting new jobs, finishing college, or just finding themselves with more spending money than they used to have. Switch might have been at the top of their wish list, until they saw that shiny new PS5 and now have to decide if they want the Switch or the PS5.

There is a lot of overlap, a lot more than I think some people want to admit.

@Ralizah So funny how everyone is so defensive and can't handle the truth. Yeah that is a 100 dollar price difference for a serious drop in the quality of the product. Sure it'll sell, but I still would not recommend it to anyone. If you want to save money, buy a used Switch, don't buy a Lite.

It's not "weird anger" it's my opinion based on the facts. The Lite isn't a good deal.

@Heavyarms55
The people who are interested in a $400-500 PS5/Scarlet in 2020/2021 are not going to be the same people who are interested in a $150-300 Switch in 2020/2021.

Eventually, the new consoles will be cheaper and have a large enough library to start attracting the same/similar audience as the Switch, but by then, Nintendo will be preparing for the launch of the Switch 2.

@westman98 That's like saying people who like a steak dinner at a nice restaurant don't bother ever eating a burger at the local diner. But it's not the case, I promise you there is more overlap than not. People with this hobby, playing video games, are always interested in the latest toys. Even some people who can't afford the PS5 or Xsphere might see them and think "hey that's really cool, I want to wait until I can afford that."

I'm not arguing that PS5 and Xtetrahedron will release and the Switch will suddenly drop off the face of the planet, just that when those new systems are out, it's gonna change things. Nintendo would be making a mistake to only rely on sales from people looking for budget games/game systems.

@Heavyarms55
A bit of a false equivalence to compare orders of food to video game systems, since food is cheap and consumable while video game hardware (or any consumer electronic for that matter) is expensive and non-consumable.

A better comparison would be purchasing a car - the new gen consoles are brand new BMWs, and the Switch is an old but reliable Toyota Camry.

Obviously Switch sales will decline at some point due to old age and market saturation, but it would literally have to fall off a cliff to not match 3DS sales (75 million), let alone barely manage to sell 60 million units lifetime. Switch had virtually no impact on PS4/XBO sales, so I cant imagine the opposite happening, especially to such a degree you described.

@westman98 It's really not though. Plenty of people with Porches drive a Camry too.

Interesting PS4 actually sold more over this time period than the Switch. Ninty needs to pull their finger out.

But Nintendo still not making any money??? How?

It's funny how the worst console in my opinion (having owned them all) is at no. 1 spot.

@popey1980 most switch players are casual players. besides, all first party games cost 60 dollars/euros. that's a lot.

@electrolite77 Sure, you're right, value is subjective, I will give you that. But it is a fact that the Switch Lite is still an inferior product. Period. There is no debating that. The only reason to consider it over the base model is the price. Maybe someone could argue the D-pad, but those who care that much can get one on the base model if they really want it.

Comparing the two devices, the Lite has no real advantage and it's disadvantages are major. I will not recommend the device to anyone, even for the price reason. I will tell anyone who is really concerned about cost to buy a used Switch. I just don't buy into that "I don't care about TV." excuse. If that's your reason, do what you want but you'll never convince me that it's a worthwhile trade off.

I'd only even consider the lite for 150 dollars, with a game packed in.

@raven11229 Nonsense, how could you know that? How do you even define a casual player?

@nintendolie The bad dualshock of the PS2 with R2 and L2 buttons that broke and switch that could leak didn't stop the system to sell 150 millions copies.

@Heavyarms55 a "casual" player is someone who isn't devoted to having every game they want at release imo. there's far more people out there with less than 10 games then there is people who collect everything, especially considering that botw is still 70 in the eshop.

Good to here, but the SNES will always be the best regardless.

@Heavyarms55
And plenty of PS5/Scarlett owners will end up buying a Switch.

It appears that Nintendo’s decision to not compete directly with Sony and Microsoft is paying off. Instead, the Switch is a very popular second console (in my case a 2nd and 3rd) for many homes. There isn’t much reason to own a PS4 and an Xbox, but owning a Switch and one of the other consoles results in less overlap and good experiences on both systems.

@electrolite77 Yep, but their latest financial report posted a few days ago show they are losing money historically.

@BanjoPickles Im not saying the Switch has only 5 good games. I'm saying the Switch only has 5 games that are exclusive and new to this generation. DKCTP and Mario Kart 8 are great games, but I played them on the Wii U. I'm ready for something new. And besides Yoshi and Luigi's Mansion 3. There is nothing for me to look forward too. (Not dismissing Astral Chain, just don't know much about it.)

So many people so defensive about my dislike of the Switch Lite. Too bad, nothing you can argue will convince me otherwise. I do not consider it a good product. It is an inferior product that will still sell well because some people are okay with the inferior product. But I will not recommend it to anyone. Not at the current price at least.

@raven11229 That's a pretty extreme thing to say don't you think? Anyone who isn't "devoted to getting every game they want on release" is a casual player? What about the people who just can't afford to do that but play heavily all the time? What about people who only have very limited free time so have to be very picky with what games they can play?

I've got a guy on my friend's list with only like 7 games on Switch and several of them with 1000+ hours. I wouldn't call him a casual.

@electrolite77 Ahh K, maybe i won't dump my shares just yet then.

Nintendo is doomed

@MrGawain Really? The Wii which has 200 games at 75+ rating on Metacritic?

The Switch is faaaar behind the Wii, and from the looks of it it can't catch up! This site always makes it sound like the Switch beats everything from Nintendo, but that certainly doesn't seem to be the case!

@Matthew010 7 year cycle would be nice. 5 is way to short. I bought the Switch with a 7 or greater cycle in mind. 5 isn't worth it to me. But it will be cool if they can get up to 100 million. I do think that's a tall order though. Maybe 73-76 million

@Heavyarms55 I think 60 is a little low but it won't be 100. I'd love to see 100 million..i see a lot of PS and XBox owners adding a Switch. PLUS...the huge factor here is, households will have more than one Switch. You won't see that with the others. My son has one. Got it when it came out. I recently got one. Now my daughter needs one to play MK 8! She ain't touching mine!