The NPD Group has revealed various games industry sales charts for last month and 2020 so far. According to the industry analysts, Nintendo's Switch was the best-selling console for July 2020, and also remains the best-selling console hardware for the year-to-date.
NPD analyst Mat Piscatella shared the tweet below showing a small decline in industry-wide year-on-year hardware spending, as well as highlighting Nintendo's Switch success:
With the arrival of next-gen consoles before the end of the year, and with Microsoft taking a rather different approach in this coming generation (which feels more akin to upgrade as-and-when you feel like it), it's perhaps unsurprising that sales of the other ageing consoles are being outpaced by Switch at this stage.
Still, with Switch almost certainly having overtaken lifetime sales of the mighty NES at the time of writing--and in just over three years since launch, too--it seems there's much to celebrate at Nintendo of America HQ, especially considering the challenges we've all been dealing with in 2020.
It will be most interesting to see how Switch and the new consoles fare over in the remaining months of 2020 - and what games Nintendo has in store. They've got to have a couple, right?
[source venturebeat.com, via twitter.com]
Comments 63
I mean that was to be expected considering the switch sells like crazy AND with the next gen csoles releasing this year
Makes sense. I bet the hype for the next gen Sony and Microsoft systems is taking the wind out of the sales for the current gen ones. If this was Nintendo's worst year like many say it is I doubt articles like these would've been published
I will make a forecast of total sales. Time will tell if I'm right!
103 million.
Not surprising at all with everyone on lockdown during that time. But I wonder how many of those sales were scalpers buying them to resell?
Whenever I visualize NCL headquarters, I always imagine 2 perfect rows of sober Japanese men sitting down to a board meeting, and... lighting cigars with US $100 bills.
I wish I could read a retrospective of all the doomsaying this device was met with in 2017.... This thread is perhaps an extreme example (https://www.neogaf.com/threads/betting-time-do-you-think-the-switch-will-be-a-success.1333545/), but I remember even serious analysts predicting that the Switch would sink due to its price point. Fascinating old world, this...
@TheFrenchiestFry it's a bit different than u are implying. People are saying it is a bad year for Nintendo first party releases, mostly remasters. Outside of AC and Paper Mario, really not much. Even 51 games is somewhat of a recycle.
I know it’s probably not gonna happen, but I wish there was a stronger Switch on the horizon. Playing Skyrim on PC, then going to the Switch shows a huge difference in performance, I used to really love the console but it’s kinda outgrowing it’s welcome.
Surely because there is nothing else to buy. 🤷♂️
I think this trend will stop as soon as the next generation arrives.
Unless Nintendo has something really big to announce for the festive season, their sales will have a big drop.
Don’t be surprised when Switch outsells PS5 and Xbox Series X/S fourth quarter.
@COVIDberry The GC, Wii, and Wii U were all predicted to be Nintendo’s last console. A lot of people said they should get out of the hardware business and just make games (like Sega). Yet, here we are.
@tourjeff
I keep recommending certain Devolver games to my friends only to find out that they’re Switch/PC exclusive and not on their PS4. The 13 year old edgelord fan base is going to find that all of the PS5 and XBOX system sellers are delayed, indefinitely. The kids are going to have to decide between portable Mario Kart and Lego properties and I’m betting the farm on the former. There’s not a compelling reason for someone to buy a PS5 this year, and the compelling reason to buy an Xbox Series X is if you own an Xbox One . I’m planning to get an Xbox Series X. I’m sold on it. But I’m also not planning on buying any new games for it anytime in the next year.
@robr
It won't be a surprise - it's basically a guarantee. The 3DS outsold the PS4 and XBO in Q4 2013, and the Switch is much more successful than the 3DS in the US.
@TheFrenchiestFry so you either wasn't here or you chose to ignore the reporting of Wii U terrible sales. Love it when I see people get salty about Nintendo success!
And yes you can tell who is upset about it as they constantly moan about it Nintendo doing well
@Kainbrightside
yep, Home consoles are not going to do anything to handheld sales.
Just like the Switch did not slow down Home Consoles or PC Graphics cards.
Cloud Punk and CyberPunk 2077 do not compete with each other. 2 Different gamers, looking for different experiences/hardware.
Dont think it could pass the wii tho
Keen to see what they have in pipeline for the years ahead to keep momentum going.
They need to announce some good games for the holiday season to keep people away from the next gen consoles and even maybe a price cut would make them come out on top this holiday season
@Jaxx420 It will outsell the Wii by a big margin. Sales curves for these systems are very, very different.
People telling others to not be surprised because other consoles are at the end of their cycles, need to explain why the Switch has been the best selling one for the last 20 consecutive months.
The Switch is going to be such a huge cash cow for Nintendo for years. Honestly even if they replace it with a traditional home console it can still exist as a dedicated handheld system with a huge catalog of cheap games.
I hope they release a Switch 2 in 2021, that will be fully compatible with original Switch games, but will have it's own exclusive games. Ideally it should have an SSD like the Series X and PS5 has, so it won't have to rely on slow SD-cards.
By the time Nintendo is ready to launch their next console, maybe they will allow folders on the Switch. 😬
All the hype for next gen feels like very hard work. I'm not convinced uptake is going to be fast out of the gate if I'm honest.
I predict the switch will still be exploding after next gen launch.
Dont think we needed NDP numbers to prove that. Everyones at home, they have no compeition for hand held and new gen is going soon so no one is buying the PS4 and XOne
@TG16_IS_BAE,
It will be called the Switch plus and Switch plus lite.
I truly believe the reason Nintendo is quite is not because they are out of ideas but because they are based in Japan (unlike Playstation in Europe not Japan anymore and Xbox in the U.S.) and had more challenges by COVID with trying to work remote. I expect 2021 to go BOOM for Nintendo in a good way!
@MrBlacky "sob sob we've got nothing to playyyyyyyyy..." Who's we, son?
@Tasuki How many of those sales were scalpers? All of them. Except for the lite, since they aren't as interested in the lite.
I haven’t played my Switch since I dropped off Animal Crossing in May. I’ve played loads of PS4, Vita and 3DS though and my wee brother is constantly on Splatoon 2. Someday I’ll finish Breath of the Wild and Three Houses.
duh it's the newest right now, ps5 and newer xbox will be awhile.
It makes some publisher's indifference to the Switch baffling. I hope we eventually get Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1&2 remakes, along with PES and others. I'm sure they can put an optimised version out.
@kobashi100 Dude. Nintendo in 2015/2016 exists. This is far from the worst they've gotten.
I remember being so upset with Nintendo by the end of the Wii U's life. I didn't want a Switch, but I got a Switch as a gift and it's been a 180.
I don't mind the ports, since I've both consoles connected to the TV alongside my PS4. Great time to be a gamer.
@WiltonRoots
Huh? Where did I say "play" and "we"? And also sorry, that the joke went over your head. 🤦♂️
@NotoriousWhiz a sale is a sale lol it counts
@Agriculture I don't think the Switch will receive a successor until at least 2023, considering that Nintendo has said that it is around half-way through it's life cycle.
Even though think it will hit wii numbers.
The console starts to lose its freshness.
Alot of indie titles, no real big releases beside metroid 4, wich i think will not come to this gen, and a handfull of remakes.
And then all of of a sudden tge ps5 and new xbox are around the corner.
Now these 2 consoles are scarce at the beginning, so are good games, but i expect next year around this periode, it start to roll.
So next year nintendo should make plans for a new generation console, for a good momentum. And release it by the end of the year.
The console and its concept is then almost 5 years old, thats a long time for this hardware, and it will be suported long after 2021 i dont worry about that. Its like the nes was suported after the snes arrived, this platform i here to stay for at least 7 years in japan.
Mainly because it also funtions as a very good handheld.
I say switch will sell prox 125 million units
I also think, nintendo should drop the switch concept, and think of something new. The same trick never have worked for them.
Or make something in between, like the dock as a dedicated standalone 4k 60fps console.
Fill in as you like for the hybrid.
They cannot ignore the 4k era anyhow, this will kill their new product., they cant come up with 1080p 30fps gaming, you get the wii-u effect. Nobody want to pay a expensive nintendo console while there is such a huge graphical difference between others for maybe 150,- more.
And i think cheap and inovating does not work nowadays, like it did with wii.
Lets face it, 4K is hot.
@PALversusNTSC While you’re not wrong about 4K, native 4K is an absolute waste of resources. Companies should be investing in their own DLSS-esque solution like Sony have done with checkerboarding and Nvidia are doing just now.
@johnvboy I hope so! This thing needs some more horsepower!
It'll continue doing this until at least November and even then it could go on even longer if the next gen consoles are expensive.
@PALversusNTSC
😆 Nintendo has been selling the 240p 3DS for the last 9+ year and is only now beginning to end production of the hardware. The Switch will continue to truck along as it has been since its launch.
22+ million people didn't buy Animal Crossing because they thought it looked as good as FFVII Remake.
@nessisonett
Sony's checkerboarding solution is nowhere near DLSS.
@westman98 Which is why they’re investing in their own DLSS solution, which was in the news a few days ago. Checkerboarding is the only reason 4K was feasible on the Pro, so it’s definitely useful but times are moving on, hence why I said DLSS-esque in that it does the same job, albeit less efficiently.
@SPL64 that's a good sized number. I hope your right! It would rock if they could surpass that.
@PALversusNTSC You are wrong. 4K is not hot. What's hot is to have great games.
@MrBlacky lol I'm laughing at the crybabies same as you...these people man...someone desperately needs to introduce them to the outside world. A very simple case of crossed wires between us, trust me I'm on your side.
The Switch will get a second wind with Breath of the Wild 2.
Even with all those numbers the Switch is still treated like the red headed step child. I'm always waiting for the next Nintendo Life article about a new game that's releasing on PS4/Xbox/PC and the developers are either "not sure about a Switch version" or "it's possible but no promises/we'll see what the future holds."
Here's we go again with NintenDoomed fandom trying to be revisionists again but failing so spectacularly at it. They keep talking 4K but xbox/psx aren't true 4K system but upscale to 4K. Put a true 4K PC Rig and those xbox/psx will be put to shame. Let alone a 4K PC would make your eyes pop out. Whom care for some of those developers whom dismissed the Switch they now are clamoring for it's sales when they see indies/independent developers embracing the Switch Digital or Physical if they can and sales are then surprising. So I can see how scared NintenDoomed fandom are. But the Switch moves on you keep clinging to the past which is where you will always be.
@Cosats don't worry about those Trolls they can't stand the fact the Switch is more then just GPU but they can't see it past their nose.
@COVIDberry
lol reading that thread was really funny!
@WiltonRoots
I see, then it was me who misunderstood you. Sorry, man. 😅
@TG16_IS_BAE,
For us it does, and I totally get where you are coming from, but for the masses the Switch appeals too it makes little difference, the Switch is already low power compared to the Ps4 pro and Xbox one S, hell even the base models of these, this has not impacted it's sales one bit.
I would expect a more cosmetic revision with a minor boost in performance, and a slightly bigger screen, could be wrong though.
@SwitchForce,
So true, a lot of the core only look at it from their own personal needs, and then automatically assume everyone else buys thing for the same reasons, when in fact even in the hardcore space the core hobby gamers that post in internet threads are in a minority too, of course discussing these matters on forum threads mostly are the same opinions, so it can seem on face value like it's everyone's views.
https://www.neogaf.com/threads/betting-time-do-you-think-the-switch-will-be-a-success.1333545/
Threads like this just go to show how out of touch with reality these people actually are, plus make very good reading when they are proved wrong, pure comedy gold this one, and I never miss the opportunity to bump it as the Nintendo Switch passes each sales milestone.
@MrBlacky no sweat mate...
@johnvboy I love that thread. Those people speak with such authority because they're Very Serious Gamers™. They think they have their finger on the pulse. They think they know how things work. Yep they do know who things work, but only in the very small microcosm in which they exist, which bears no relation to your regular person in the street.
Where in the world were people finding them? I've had a Switch Lite since March and for the life of me can't seem to find the full Switch model (or even Lites) in stock in any store. Haha! I guess people really are buying them the second they hit shelves!
@WiltonRoots,
Like you once said "People in bubbles, speaking to people in similar bubbles".
@pikku,
Amazon UK had Neon consoles in stock for a short period of time, sold out quickly though.
The buzzword seems to be 4K but if Nintendo called me and asked me into a focus group for the Switch pro I would suggest a SSD for faster load times and instead of focusing on 4K go for higher refresh rates for smoother games. I would quickly follow up and tell them that yes I would pay $100 more for an upgraded switch.
@boredlizard They can still keep the original Switch in production, and make some games cross compatible.
@Kainbrightside,
Not much logic on video game forums, basically everybody buys for the exact same reasons, and there is nothing beyond that.
Thats pretty good for a system yourself still cant find anywhere.
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