In just over five years since it launched, the Switch has now sold 25 million units in Japan according to Famitsu. Just last month, the hybrid console overtook the 3DS to become the third best-selling console of all time in the country, and now it's smashed another milestone target.
Shared on Twitter by @Nibellion, Switch sales — which include the OLED, standard, and Lite models — have reached approximately 25,010,404 units.
The five best-selling games in Japan remain unchanged from earlier in the year, with Animal Crossing: New Horizons still sitting extremely comfortably at the top of the list. The latest entry in the life-sim series became the best-selling game in Japan of all time back in February.
The rest of the list is rounded out by other popular Nintendo brands, with Super Smash Bros. Ultimate just under 2.5 million behind Animal Crossing, and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe — the best-selling Switch game overall worldwide — right behind it. Pokémon Sword & Shield and Splatoon 2 complete the top five.
- Animal Crossing: New Horizons - 7.26 million
- Super Smash Bros. Ultimate - 4.89 million
- Mario Kart 8 Deluxe - 4.66 million
- Pokémon Sword & Shield - 4.34 million
- Splatoon 2 - 4.08 million
We've been approaching this huge figure for a while now, and even though hardware sales are expected to slow, the Switch is still doing incredibly well.
- Nintendo Reportedly Expecting 10% Decrease In Switch Sales Due To Supply Issues
- Nintendo Forecasts Profits And Sales To Drop In This Financial Year
So, is the Game Boy next in the firing line for the Switch?
As always, share your thoughts on this news with us in the comments.
[source famitsu.com, via twitter.com]
Comments (47)
Hmm, no botw in top 5…
I hope this means Nintendo’s push to bring more female gamers into the console ecosystem paid off. Many female gamers game mostly on mobile and the PC. I love seeing console gaming normalized among females as it really wasn’t when I was growing up.
Edit: Apparently it is not obvious I am female by my original post. Woman Gamer here, y’all.
@clianvXAi Do you know what you've done? You've laid down an invitation for some lumbering donkey to waltz into the comments and say 'Well actually The Legend of Zelda has never been as popular in Japan as it has in the west' and we're all going to have to roll our eyes and try hard not to figuratively punch them with our keyboards. Thanks a bunch.
Great! Now Direct. Things are too quiiiiiieeeeeet... I need some games to look forward to :/
3ds was a huge success in Japan. Not as much in the rest of the world. Switch is a phenomenon
@clianvXAi Well actually The Legend of Zelda has never been as popular in Japan as it has in the west and sold incredibly well this iteration.
@gcunit trotts in from Blackpool pleasure beach on Epona the Donkey, looks to above comment Well, actually... I'm no longer needed here.
This means every fifth person in Japan owns a Switch.
@Degenerate_Mii probably not in japan handheld gaming is very popular
@gcunit
Stop hitting yourself.
@Friendly ⌨️🥊 😛
@Ryu_Niiyama Mind if I ask if you're male or female?
Only asking to see if, as a female, you might be embarrassed tell others/school friends that you Game.
Being male at school, I didn't know many girls who gamed.
Go switch it’s smashing it 😊
@gcunit Why would you want to punch someone for saying a fact?
@NintendoWife Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes, Xenoblade Chronicles 3, Splatoon 3, Pokemon SV, Adavance Wars, Bayonetta 3, Mario + Rabbids 2, BotW2, MK8DX DLC etc
Looks like a fine line-up of upcoming games
@NintendoWife I mean we are getting MHRS, XC3, Threehopes and Splatoon3 until mid-September. I am fine with a direct in September.
@mariomaster96 It's always subjective I know, but of these, for me: BOTW2, MK8 DLC
.. plus Live-A-Live and hopefully Return to Monkey Island.
BOTW2 is far away. And there's some games that should have been out already and we haven't got an update in a long time. Sports Story, Braid Anniversary Edition, not even mentioning Prime 4 anymore. And: What's next for Mario?
@BlueGBAMicro If you touch someone's highlighted name (or click on it w/ a mouse on PC/Mac) it will bring you to their "profile page". Not a ton of info on it, some people write a few thing, some don't write anything, but this woman did. You're welcome.😁
https://www.nintendolife.com/users/Ryu_Niiyama
@mariomaster96 Yeap and they hadn't already announced anything for Q4 and next year yet.
So which consoles are still ahead of it and by how much?
@Rob3008
I think PS2 and DS.
As for how much I have no idea about Japanese sales of those two platforms.
@NintendoWife You're still waiting for Prime 3? Dude, I'm sorry to break this to you, just out of the blue like, but Prime 3 has been available almost 15 years.
https://www.samaritans.org/
@BlueGBAMicro 😁
@Degenerate_Mii I have been saying the same thing!! Not only would a TV only Switch be much cheaper (no battery, no screen), but it could open a mild return to Wii U. What do I mean by this? The entire portable Switch could be used as a game controller with second screen options. For example, the Splatton maps being shown at all times. Or with a Pinball game the DMD being show on Switch portable. Just little extras for people that might own both versions.
it_prints_money.gif
@rjejr thanks! Long time no talk!
@BlueGBAMicro In the interest of not derailing the thread, I have updated my original comment to make it more clear. And no I was an obvious gamer growing up, unfortunately (as that was not my intention) it made me considered “one of the guys”, a moniker that I loathed. Being ostracized by other girls due to your hobbies is something no girl/teen wants to go through. Dudes are ok and all, but it was annoying that playing Pokémon or Zelda was seen as “non gender role conforming” or “a guy hobby”. Especially since my mother taught me (and still plays at 70) to game. As such I have never been embarrassed by gaming just annoyed that it often tossed me with a crowd I didn’t want to hang with. Now to my excitement, many younger women I meet grew up gaming in way or another. Even if there isn’t a lot of overlap in what we play.
Odd question though.
@gcunit Ja. Yes. Oui. I meant 4. The slightly larger 3.
Such is the Power of Nintendo!
@Ryu_Niiyama You're welcome, glad to help. 😄
Digging what seems to be a new avatar, which would get you banned in 14 countries. It's the right countries to be banned in though, so that's a win. 👍
FYI (derailing the thread is kinda my thing, not too worried 😂)
https://www.reuters.com/business/media-telecom/exclusive-pixar-movie-lightyear-with-same-sex-couple-will-not-play-14-countries-2022-06-13/
PROFIT! UNLIMITED PROFIT!
@clianvXAi not surprising this is Japan where Zelda is less big.
That's Switch in Japan for you. I just ran into a new anime trailer in YouTube feed, and apparently even isekai'd elves can't resist it.
(incidentally, inb4 people watch this show and start pining for an actual white OLED with black joycons)
@gcunit comment #33 right here, officer.
Very nice to hear. Animal Crossing is such a beast.
@rjejr New to site and I don't have the time to be clicking on everyone's Profile so now you understand. "You're welcome" 😁
@nhSnork I had go to incognito to see that. No surprise that the two users that have mentioned the phenomenon in this comments section were both already on my Ignore list.
ACNH is my best Switch game.
I have accumulated 845+ hours from ACNH.
@clianvXAi this would surprise me too...BUT The Legend of Zelda has never been as popular in Japan as it has in the west.
@gcunit
At this point there is nothing like the Switch can do - it has proven the innovation of tech coming together to smash anything NintenDoomed has said it would fail in it's first 1yr of release. But now you don't see any of them anymore - I wonder why.
I pretty much bought the switch for BOTW lol. I'm in australia though not japan
Excellent News! Keep up the Incredible Work Nintendo!
@Degenerate_Mii interesting a cheaper basic system would be a nice adittion the more the better an if it's cheap cool .
hope they give us a more powerfull option to .
I hope they keep supporting The Nintendo Switch Family for at least another 5-6 Years! Just give us a Switch Pro and it will definitely be the best selling console of all time Worldwide! I Guarantee it.
@OrtadragoonX no it's the gameboy and DS.
@Rob3008 only the gameboy and DS
@NintendoEternity
Game Boy outsold PS2 in Japan?
Huh. That’s insane lol.
@OrtadragoonX yeah it really is!
@OrtadragoonX
Nintendo is by any means the most profitable console/game company ever.
Sony and MS can only wish to have 1/3 of nintendo's profit comming from this division.
If nintendo wants, it could release a nextgen so advanced, and even make way more money.
But they just don't want to interfer, and doing their own thing. Guess they have knowledge about the industry crash in the eighties, and don't want to destroy it.
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