Pandemic, shmandemic. Who needs to go outside when we've got Ring Fit Adventure? Who needs friends when we've got all the villagers in Animal Crossing: New Horizons? Who needs jobs when we can work on a farm in Stardew Valley? We're big fans of escapism, and this year, we've needed it more than ever.
Following news that the Switch is super popular in the UK, selling like hot cakes in China, and that the 3DS is still mega popular in Japan, we've now seen NPD's reports that the Switch has been sitting at the top spot of consoles for the 25th consecutive month in the US.
Here are some fun facts from the NPD report:
- Half of the 20 best-selling physical games in the US during December 2020 were published by Nintendo
- Animal Crossing, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, Super Mario 3D All-Stars, and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate all sold more physical copies than Cyberpunk 2077 in 2020
- Ring Fit Adventure was the fifth best-selling Nintendo game this year, with increased sales in December
- The 10 best-selling Switch games were all first-party
- Animal Crossing: New Horizons was the third-best selling game in 2020, behind Call of Duty: Black Ops: Cold War, and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare
- Sales of consoles, games, and accessories hit an all-time high of $56.9 billion in the US last year
- The US spent the most it's ever spent on games in one month during December 2020, a total of $7.7 billion
- The Switch sold the most units and made the most dollars in 2020
- Animal Crossing: New Horizons is now the highest-earning Nintendo game since Wii Fit in 2010
- 2020's Nintendo Switch sales were the second highest for a platform in US history, behind only the Wii
[source gonintendo.com]
Comments 76
It's unlikely NOT to catch up to the Wii...
But will it catch up to the DS?
Guys don't worry. I am sure someone can explain how Nintendo is still doomed and should go 3rd party ASAP. Their argument will probably be something about 4K and terraflops. Lol
Imagine how well it will sell when they actually release games for it instead of recycling wii u games 😂 sorry couldn’t help myself. When is botw2 coming anyway??
I'm somewhat surprised by the Switch's success. I wasn't in the camp predicting it would fail like the Wii U. With it's portability and lack of competition from other dedicated portables, I figured it was safe to assume it could sell similar numbers to the 3DS. That system proved there's still a market for hand held game systems in a world of smart phones. At the same time, I thought it was unrealistic to think it would sell over 100 million consoles. I'm happy to be wrong.
Nice! It's almost certain that the Switch will reach 80 million sales or more this year! With the anniversaries of some Nintendo franchises (and a 2nd party) being this year, the Switch could have its biggest year sales yet.
Long live Nintendo
@Boxmonkey
When it's ready
Switch sold-through ~9 million units in 2020 in the US.
So what you're saying is, Nintendo had an alright year.
Seriously though, what competition was there in 2020? PS4/XBOne have been on the market for years, and the next-gen consoles didn't come out until the very end of the year and had the usual supply issues every console has at launch. The Switch is in the middle of its life cycle. If it hadn't outsold everything else it would have been an embarrassment.
I like to celebrate Nintendo's successes as much as the next fan, but outselling the PS4 and XBone in the last year of their lives isn't really an achievement. And 2020 was a very weak year on every console (for good reason, mind you), and Nintendo really didn't give us all that much to celebrate. Even I'm tired of Wii U ports at this point, and Hyrule Warriors would have been a second-tier game in any normal year. If you weren't interested in Animal Crossing, 2020 was absolutely the Switch's worst year yet.
@TheFox I've been gaming since the Atari 2600 era, and I mostly game at home, with a litany of new and old consoles at my disposal, and in my opinion, the Switch may end up being my favorite console of all time. I'm not ready to proclaim that yet, but it is approaching that sort of status. I didn't expect that when I bought it...my favorite before the Switch was the NES.
Switch is now garanteed to sell DS like numbers.
@JasmineDragon Its outsold them for 25 months straight in the US, not just this year. And obviously around the world by similar degrees...look at their home country of Japan. Where is Sony? To me, the PS4 and Xbox One, which I own both, have been the disappointment. All this shows is opinions vary greatly.
@Heavyarms55 B-but Switch has no games! It needs ray tracing! 8K support! A toaster addon! And it better butter it!
@Pod,
I would have said that was impossible at one point, but who knows, we could have the best selling console of all time on our hands here, beating both the DS and PS2.
@JasmineDragon,
It's funny how when a Nintendo console is not selling well like the Wii U, it's compared to everything else on an equal basis, but when a console like the Switch is doing very well it's because of loads of different reasons, none of them being it's a great console with mass market appeal.
So basically it's o.k to compare the Switch sales to the Ps4 and Xbox One when it suits certain peoples arguments, personally it's a great time for physical consoles with all three manufacturers doing well.
DS or PS2 numbers is probably stretching it a bit.
But on the other hand when first the floodgates are open..
Ring Fit and Animal Crossing's success probably shows that now the mainstream consumers are also on board (and then it could happen that some of the big publishers other than Capcom and a few others, took the chance and released some exclusives as well).
@JasmineDragon excellent post. Exactly how I feel. My guess is that Nintendo has either fallen into complacency or they are saving their acorns for the next system.
@johnvboy Exactly. And half the people who keep saying "well it's only because the Switch is cheaper and established" etc etc were saying earlier in the year the Switch wouldn't stand a chance and would seem dated against the new powerful consoles! 🙄
@Boxmonkey bingo! You gotta the nail on the head!
@Clyde_Radcliffe,
And this year when it still outsells them they will still make up any excuse rather than give Nintendo some credit, the Switch does not compete directly with these other consoles, so they were never going to affect it.
@shgamer,
Not such a stretch, if Nintendo plan a seven year cycle for the console and it's at around 80 million now, another 60-70 million sales is more than possible, even more if you factor a model revision and a price cut at some point.
@Diddy64
It's reaching 80 million sales this MONTH. ^^
Or. Probably not. But it likely will next month.
Wow ring fit. Talk about sleeper hit.
More ring con games please. A Starfox one with running and flying missions (kind of in the vane of Kid Icarus Uprising) would be awesome.
Or just another Kid Icarus game where he uses Palutena’s ring as his weapon.
As of December switch is at 70 million
@Savino Can't tell if trolling or not as to achieve 4K, at 120fps and Ray Tracing enabled you need at least a high-end Ryzen CPU and a RTX2080TI... that would put any console above a $1000 entry point which the PS3 proved no one wants to pay for unless you are in high class earnings bracket.
"The Switch is basically a Wii U 2, nobody will buy it"
See those people now.
@Savino Nah it's cool dude! I just see too many legit comments where people say that so I'm always on guard!
Biggest years ever for any single game platform in the US:
1) NDS 2009: 11.19 million units (NDSi launched in April)
2) WII 2008: 10.15 million units
3) NDS 2008: 9.95 million units
4) WII 2009: 9.59 million units
5) NSW 2020: ~9.0 million units
@Heavyarms55 Yep that's only because Sony has given up on the US.
@sanderev I don’t think there were many. Even Pachter thought it would do much better than the WiiU. He was way off in that I think he was predicting 30-40 million total sales. I think that was about what most thought.
@Boxmonkey 2023 or 2024 I'd wager for BotW2
@NGNYS In the PS2's defence it has one of the best libraries in gaming that pushed it's hardware sales for sure, Final Fantasy X, Metal Gear Solid 3, Silent Hill 2, Xenosaga, so many fantastic games. Though I agree people need to chill and stop giving rather silly answers as to why the Switch is selling so well. It is selling well because it has been marketed well, with a compelling features, and a fantastic library of games. It is sometimes just that simple.
The Switch will be close to a 100 million consoles sold by the end of this year. Mark my words.
@NGNYS you'd be surprised on how many Nintendo sites and Facebook groups it's the same thing. People just like to be *****.
@WiltonRoots how do you figure that?
@Darkyoshi98 So you think the Switch sold less than two million units during October and November WW. It 100% already surpassed the 3ds.
@Heavyarms55 I saw someone post it in the Japanese article, saying Sony have given up on Japan, I just thought I would repurpose it...
@Tyranexx Not gonna lie the toaster add on would be hilarious
@WiltonRoots Both Sony and MS have the same overall issues right now. They pushed an expensive high powered console onto store shelves with very little exclusive software for the new machines. They need more games that people can only play on their systems. So long as you can easily play most of the same titles on older consoles or PC, it gives the average consumer little reason to upgrade.
And make no mistake, it is just an upgrade. You can talk about Ray tracing and terraflops all day, but as for what that means for the gamer at home, it's just a better PS4 or Xbone.
Great ninty! Now where's Metroid Prime 4 then!? No excuses now...THIS GEN! Congrats
I still don't understand why are people still whining about the lack of new games last year, I mean there is a pandemic happening. Everything had to be pushed back.
@Heavyarms55 Considering how up to the PS4, the winner of any console cycle tended to be the weaker console of the competition that seems to be true. The average consumer does not care how powerful a given console is provided it has the games they want to play and their friends are playing it too. Depending on how you look at the Switch I predict it being the best selling console of this generation (PS5 and XBSX).
@JasmineDragon lol actually your wrong the switch hasn't outsold ps4 yet.xbox yes.and yes it is a achievement considering the switch sales at 70 million in under 4 years which ps4 and xbox was out 7 to 8 years before and outsold xbox one and catching up to the ps4 Nintendo sold more in half the time.so yea big deal
@BTB20 did you actually read my comment?fact is Nintendo has sold 70 million since launch yes it will out sale the ds before the switch is retired.
@Moonlessky it was a bad year for all 3 consoles
Yeah... This is why a Switch Pro launching anytime soon makes no sense, to me.
Nintendo hasn't seen numbers like this in a very long time. They obviously have a winning formula with the Switch, a large share of the market, and a ton of momentum heading into 2021. Why would they ever risk this to compete with the companies that are trailing behind them?
Its library already blows away almost any other Nintendo console.
@NGNYS,
Yes I fail to see why some do not want Nintendo to succeed, I do not have a PS4 but am not beat up over the fact it's sold so well this generation, and it;s not stopped my loving my Xbox One S either.
@Agent721 Fair point about the 25-month sales. I was really focusing on last year only, but I'm always willing to give Nintendo credit. The Switch has sold really well ever since launch, and I'm very happy about it. I play on the Switch exclusively, and I love the Switch with all its quirks. I've been playing on it almost every day since launch day.
But I didn't buy much in 2020. I bought Animal Crossing twice for my girls, I wasn't about to buy it three times. I love having Mario 3D All-Stars, but it's not original. I actually already owned all three of tbose games.
I just found it a very weak year for Nintendo.
And I also understand that a lot of stuff happened in 2020.
its crazy to think how after the success of the wii, their followup console it a massive failure, then after that they go back to being on top
@johnvboy You seriously think I have an agenda against the Switch? I play exclusively on the Switch. Every day since launch day. My Switch library is the biggest library I've ever had. It's my favorite console ever, and I've been gaming since Space Invaders.
I stand by what I said.
@rockodoodle I'm really starting to believe they're gearing up for their next gen. They clearly know the Switch is a hit and can afford to start putting resources into the next console.
@Heavyarms55 they have no issues right now, apart from that they can't make they're consoles fast enough. PS5 just had the biggest console launch in history, in a year with a pandemic where they had to start manufacturing them! Bless you and your Nintendo fandom, loving a billion dollar company that doesn't give a dam about its consumers, just like the other two. They just want to make money. I own all 3 because I love playing the best games, personally don't care what box they are on. Its great that Nintendo are doing amazing, I hope it continues, but I also hope the other two do great because then everyone wins.
Wild that Switch will probably be the top seller in the US in January, as well.
@Serialsid I sense someone was offended by the facts I spoke. I'm not sorry. But you can cry and call me a fanboy if it makes you feel better.
@Wexter I can't speak for strong or weak or what actually qualifies a "winner" in this context. What I mean is that in the end, what moves a console are the games and the actual features that affect how people play those things.
No matter how impressive or obsolete the technology under the hood might be, if a game is fun and compelling doesn't have any crippling flaws that keep it from functioning properly coughCyberpunkcough , then it's gonna sell whatever system(s) it's on. And more exclusive popular games on a platform is going to make it sell better.
I have no doubt that PS5 and XboxX have their libraries in the works, that they're going to have those compelling titles. But they aren't there yet. They've sold what they have sold because people expect those titles to come. But if Sony or MS don't deliver, then expect those sales to drop right off a cliff.
@Heavyarms55 offended? Ha ha ha. No mate , far from it. You said they have a problem, I say they don't. You can't buy either system anywhere on the planet right now, they sell out in seconds. Sony has 8 first party exclusive games I want coming in 2021 alone, games won't be a problem, making the systems fast enough is. I just hope Nintendo brings games this year because my switch sits unused most of the time. Even my kids don't play it anymore.
@pixelpatch That's a running joke I have with some of my software dev team. Some customers want crazy things, so we joke that they'll want an add-on that sends commands to the nearest smart toaster to do everything for them.
A Switch toaster add-on would be hilariously pointless, but we know we'd get it just for the novelty. XD
@Serialsid "Bless you and your Nintendo fandom, loving a billion dollar company that doesn't give a dam about its consumers, just like the other two"
Because heaven forbid people display Nintendo fandom on a Nintendo fan site!
@Clyde_Radcliffe I have no problem people liking a console and it's games, it's why I read this site everyday. I love most of Nintendos first party games and the switch is a brilliant piece of kit. I'm just tired of the toxic nature of some gamers, from all sides.
I’d care more about Switch’s success if it actually had more than 2-3 good exclusives in 2020.
@Serialsid How was it toxic, they basically said they're not impressed by the PS5/Xbox Series games lineup and fancy graphics? People are not obliged to like other consoles, nor their games. Everyone has their own tastes.
Only possible because Nintendo put in a lot of the software work during the Wii U era. Though the first 4 months of the year do have some great new games coming out, so hopefully this year will have a lot more brand new installments in beloved franchises than ports that set them back another generation.
@johnvboy I see the opposite, when talking about weaknesses with the Switch compared to other consoles we get told that you can't compare the Switch with other consoles. However a strength with the Switch compared to other consoles is always fine.
I have 2 Switches in my home and am getting ready to buy another for MH:Rise. And if the Pro releases at year’s end I will definitely be picking that up then or whenever it arrives. Switch is fast becoming one of my favorite consoles of all time, like someone else mentioned as well.
@Agent721 Exactly the same situation for me. The amount of content on the Switch from throughout the history of video games is just astounding.
@LUIGITORNADO 2-3? It had 1 good exclusive and that wasn't even made by Nintendo AND it isn't even a proper exclusive. Just a Console exclusive.
Hades was genuinely the ONLY good exclusive (console exclusive) game the Switch got last year.
Now to be fair, Hades is one hell of a good game, it's easy to see why it was a firm GOTY contender, but it didn't have the legs to carry a whole console for an entire year.
To be honest even BOTW couldn't of done what it did for the Switch in its first year if it wasn't for Mario Odyssey.
@JasmineDragon,
No I do no think you have an agenda against the Switch, but you comment implied that the only reason the Switch had sold so well was the lack of competition from the older consoles, and as there is always so many negative comments on here whenever there is good news for Nintendo I read your comment the same way. Sorry if you do not fall into that camp.
@Crono1973,
I was not talking about the Switch having any weakness, in fact my comment was purely stating the console was in it's own space within the video game market.
I guess I was trying to suggest that it competes with the two major consoles from Sony and Microsoft when it suits people, not in terms of power etc, but in terms of occupying the same sales market.
@Pod Even better then! 😊 It may reach 90 or more by the end of the 2021 or his final fiscal year (February 2022 iirc?).
@Diddy64
It would actually be weird if it didn't.
It's been selling an average of 20 million per year so far, and hasn't been showing signs of slowing down yet.
@JasmineDragon Late reply, but content wise, it was a very weak Nintendo year. Where are the games?! Hopefully that ends soon.
@bojackson Agreed...and who expected that? Not I, that's for sure. Its been a very pleasant gaming experience, the Switch.
26 Now! I'm sure it'll go to 30!
@SnesSwitch It did reach 30; in fact, I'm sure it's over 30 in a row by now!
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