Try To Act Surprised, The Nintendo Switch Conquered Europe In 2020

Amazing. Good for Nintendo. It's insane how well MK8 is doing considering it's age. It is one hek of a polished game though.

Seeing how Nintendo already has a customer base and the Next Gen twins look like they’re going to have a slow start supplying consoles and getting out a substantial amount of key titles, I wouldn’t be surprised if Nintendo dominate 2021 as well- especially if we get Zelda for Christmas.

Congrats Nintendo! Well deserved!

It still blows my mind that GTA V still sells so well. I know GTA Online is still huge, but 8 years on, who doesn’t own a copy now? Lol.

As for the Switch and titles like Animal Crossing New Horizons, the Pandemic and Lockdown definitely played a huge part in the sales boost last year. Those that couldn’t get one when Nintendo couldn’t keep up with demand in the first lockdown got one for or around Christmas time & the Switch Lite was popular with people who wanted to just play on the go.

Ring Fit Adventure would no doubt have been massively popular too due to Gyms being shut.

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is another great lockdown Title too for Families.

Remasters like the Mario Remasters & no doubt upcoming Zelda and Pokemon Remasters will carry on boosting Sales along with the other big releases like Breath of the Wild 2 that will come later this year.

Nintendo for me are about innovation, and people need that right now.

When I see how well it's doing, I can't help but think Nintendo could shoot itself in the foot with the next generation and go for something stupidly risky by canning the hybrid concept. Hopefully they will just improve upon the existing concept and grow the massive chunk of market they carved for themselves.

I saw on Push Square that 2020 was GTAV's best selling year so far since launch and with a next gen version launching in fall/holiday 2021, 2021's GTAV sales will likely be even more than 2020.

@SonOfStayPuft
There was a GTA V- giveaway in the Epic Games Store. I guess that massively pushed the numbers.

@Hofnarr Ah, thank you. Didn’t see that one. It’s still a great game & it’ll sell bucketloads again when it’s released on Xbox Series X/S & PS5 this year.

I’ll buy it again on Xbox Series X for the Achievements for the 3rd time haha

At this point the momentum with the Switch is amazing, Nintendo could release very few games this year and still sell 20 million plus consoles.

Nintendo succedding where Germany failed twice.

Just kidding, don‘t get mad plz.

I’m sure Nintendo will plough all their success and profits into new IPs and instalments of existing franchises. I’m also sure they’ll release Joy-con 2.0.

I'm not at all surprised its a great console.

It’s hardly a fair comparison, is it? The PS5 and Series X only released late in the year, and stock issues were commonplace. At the same time, PS4 and Xbox One are trailing into end-of-life/waiting-for-next-gen sales slumps.

The fact that Nintendo’s second best selling title is 4 years old (older if you count the original) and third best is a compilation of old games, is somewhat damning of their output this year.

That all being said, they still sold bucketloads and should be proud of the Switch’s ongoing success.

Let’s just wait and see how the PS5 does with a full year’s worth of sales.

I just wish that FIFA would stop selling so well...cause EA won't make it better until it stops making money

And with next-gen out in the wild, we still don't know jack about Nintendo's 2021 slate.

"Switch outsold the PS by almost three-to-one"

We are including the Switch Lite, almost three of which would need to be sold to match the PS5 cost.

I bet Corn Flakes out sold both the PS and Switches.

Comparison should really be like for like other wise you are playing with figures.

Who the hell is still buying GTA5?

Whilst the girl is undeniably cute she can’t be concentrating very much, playing a Switch whilst walking down the street (in winter!) AND gazing away to laugh at some poor guy spilling coffee down himself.

Mind how you go love.

Looking back at how FIFA sold in Europe, it doesn't seem to be as bad as people are making it to be. It isn't some botched, unplayable port like WWE 2K18, and it certainly performs better than other sports ports like any of the NBA games. I think people should start looking at FIFA on the Switch as if it was a handheld game, because it's definitely optimized for the Switch.

The fact that GTA still outsold animal crossing is sickening, like seriously does every kid get this game as soon as they turn a certain age? Or something

@zool That's an odd comment to make.

Switch consoles sold vs PS5 consoles sold, apples to apples

You can do the approximate math for revenue, but then you could make the claim that Switch is being sold at a profit, while PS5 is being sold at a loss, and net is better than gross for measuring corporate performance.

Unless it's just a fanboy thing about , "It's not fair that PS5 has less numbers because it costs more!", in which case...whatever.

EDIT: Also, from a developer/publisher perspective, install base is a better metric than revenue for estimation because each console in the wild is a potential sale, not each revenue unit as determined by Zool.

@UltimateOtaku91
why does zelda breath of the wild still sells?
gtaV is a classic and to be honost, good games are scarce in other platforms. GTA V keeps kids busy during corona lockdown, the game never gets boring.

@PALversusNTSC I'm not saying it's not a good game but it's been out since 2013! And still in the charts non stop in 2021?

And breath of the wild isn't even in the top 20 sellers in 2020

Nintendo really has to start sharing their first party digital sales with NPD + GSD/GfK. It's annoying that any retail + digital sales charts is missing all digital Nintendo first party software sales when those games sell so much.

At one point, Animal Crossing New Horizons had a 50% digital attach ratio during its launch window. Neglecting the digital sales from that one game alone is ignoring millions of copies sold.

@Joe-b It really is. I can play that game at anytime and know it will be a fun session. I would LOVE to get some DLC for it though. Surely not a big ask? A few nice new course, $20, I'm in!

@Rhaoulos Under what circumstances would Nintendo can the hybrid concept, given Switch sales?

@KIRO you know I never thought of that. Wow. I'm surprised they didnt give a little something. I love this other racer called Horizon Chase Turbo. Got that for less than $20 and there's free tracks added and DLC all the time...I mean its crazy what they give you. But if Nintendo ever announced MK9 for Switch? They would break 200 million units.

@Duffman92 i'm from poland so yeah that was funny ^^

It’s insane that such a sales powerhouse is still snubbed by devs.

@gcunit Honestly I don't know. It's Nintendo and sometimes, logic takes a backseat. They always want to create new concepts. Sometimes it sells like the Wii or the Switch, sometimes like the virtual boy and the Wii U.

My hope is that they will make an improved switch with better battery life, better screen, more horsepower and compatible with a proper VR headset, unlike labo VR, which is clearly a novelty/toy only meant to play for a few minutes

New Super Mario Bros game, new MK9 game and Breath of the wild 2....... Certain top 3 there Nintendo, now get your arse in gear!!

@shazbot I don't make odd comments. Guess what? Nissan Qashqai is outselling the Rolls Royce.

A £200 Switch is selling more than the £500 PS5. You are comparing apples and oranges.
One is the best (subjective) home games console there is and the other is a small handheld device costing £300 less.

You can say the switch is the best selling games console, fine, but to say it is out selling the PS is not a fair comparison.

I could say that the best portable games device is the smartphone and it far and away outsells the Switch.

@zool if you were offended by me finding your comment odd, I apologize, it just seems to me that apples are being compared to apples, units sold against units sold.

But I must maintain that your examples seem off (to me).

Nissans do significantly outsell Rolls Royces. If I'm an accessory maker who makes profit on volume sales, I will produce Nissan accessories. If I'm a luxury maker, I'll produce for the Rolls.

But I don't see any £400 luxury games for PS5, because it's a mass market consumer electronics device. (And Rolls aren't sold at a loss)

You can get in a twist that it's the 'best home games console there is' but it feels like fanboyism at play, particularly when you ignore the PS5 digital edition price (£349), inflate the base edition price by £50 (actually £449), and do the opposite for the Switch, ignoring the base edition (£279, which globally has outsold the lite by ~3:1) for the cheaper lite price of £199. The price difference for the models is a range from £240 - £80 or 0.4x to 1.2x, not quite the same as your example where the price difference starts at ~11x (Qashqai ~£22k vs Phantom £270k).

Which is fine, but then your complaint comes across as skewed by your PS affinity.

@shazbot my examples are only there to make a
broader point rather than a finite calculation.

I don't even have a PS, and I never have had one. I have always had Nintendo consoles, but I am not a Nintendo 'fanboy' if such a thing even exists.

I do know the limits of the Switch and understand that while they are on a roll with the Switch Lite, a better Switch may have to wait. But let's not pretend that we can't see that a handheld games device called Switch is being counted together with the Docked Switch (which was released primarily as a home consoles) to boost sales figures.

My comparison was with the higher priced PS5 because that plays physical games.

@zool Sounds like we have to agree to disagree, as reasonable minds can differ.

If I can sum positions (in good faith), your perspective is that the Switch Lite specifically should not be included in console sales because it is purely a handheld and not equivalent to a PS5 sale?

My perspective is that gamers care about games, and game developers/publishers care about potential sales. They are unlikely to sell more if their game than consoles in the wild, and so units sold vs units sold is a fair comparison because it is indicative of where non-exclusives are likely to end up (i.e. Switch, including switch lite, install base of 80 million represents significantly more sales potential than PS5 current install of ~5 million).

@shazbot I know three people who bought a Switch Lite just to play Animal Crossing. They hardly ever play it now and they never bought another game. They are back playing on their Smartphone and tablet.

The balance board helped sell so many Wii's, it became an exercise machine, but the same people deserted the Wii U. Nintendo got greedy, not allowing each member of a family to have a slot each on AC. It is one machine, one game card for one player. Switch games are to expensive for much handheld play.

Selling Switch Lites is one one thing, selling games for them is another.

@zool I don't think anecdotes are relevant, unless you have a story about the 75 million people you know without PS5s, who buy PS5 games anyway?

Whether your friends buy games or not, there's more Switch+Switch lites in the wild than PS5s and I know 0 people who buy PS5s who don't have a PS5. You definitely can't sell a game to someone without the platform... Which is why install base matters (even to Sony, probably why they delayed Returnal and haven't given a date to Ratchet and Clank),

Compared to Sony Nintendo is at least 20 times smaller. The only hardware in Nintendo's portfolio is an aging Switch and a stripped down smaller version with limitations, that doesn't even switch.

The Switch as it is will peak soon. My guess is that unless Nintendo introduce a more powerful model they will give up the home console market and dominant the handheld one.

If Nintendo introduce a new console, it could well be a more powerful non Switchable console, leaving the Lite as a Switch in name only. And it could be back to the Wii U days, once again.