Nintendo Switch Is The Best-Selling Console In The UK In 2022, Overall Sales Down

Game and console sales were always going to plunge after the pandemic-era spike. I'm sure supply issues contributed to that as well.

Nice to hear how competitive Nintendo is remaining in the region overall, considering it has historically been one of their weaker major markets.

they should count pokemon scarlet and violet as one

The Switch is a beast, and should be the third best selling console of all time by now.

I just keeps selling

Tough time my ass. It looks like it's still above pre-pandemic years. I knew it would be close and I'll be honest, I thought the PS5 was going to take it lol, but I did say last year the Switch would win, just haha

Nintendo beating Sony in UK is kind of a big deal. Nintendo has always been much weaker there compared to Japan and NA. Pokémon S/V came in clutch I reckon.

Sales were always going to dip. A worldwide cost of living crisis , a global recession means people won’t have the disposable income to spend. That said, the fact that Nintendo are still selling consoles and games is incredible.
2023 has some amazing games to come but it’s understandable that it will be a year where things slow down. 2024 will surely be the year for the Switch 2/pro.
If Nintendo veer at all from the Switch style they will end up with another Wii U. Fully expect a more powerful Switch in March 2024 around £300.

@Arawn93

I do agree that's it's a big deal but unfortunately I think the figures are slightly skewed by the availability (of rather lack of) of the PS5

Had it been more readily available I think it would have been a different story so I wouldn't read too much into the Switch outselling the PS5

Just for context I own both consoles so I'm not a fan boy either way

Switch is 5 years old and PS5 had stock issues, 2022 was a funny one.

Had the PS5 been readily available it would have sold the most but that's all part of the game itself, and Switch won this year...
That's Sonys problem to solve, not Nintendos.

So Nintendo games sell more physically, but less digitally compared to Xbox and Playstation games (Switch Sports being number 10 in the overall chart, but number 4 in the physical sales chart).

And with sales newly released game (2022) on a 20% rise despite overall games sales were down 6%, you could argue that sales overall where pretty much centered around a few select titles.

There wasn't many AAA games released for PS4, Xbox and PC platforms (an example: Capcom didn't release any new games except for Ghost n' Goblins Resurrected -which is hardly AAA).

There were some really successful games in the AAA space among those that actually released, namely Elden Ring, Modern Warfare 2 (and Fifa of course).

But it IS a fact that very few new games actually released as many were delayed till 2023, so many people probably "migrated" to the games that actually released.

And that were actually good. MW2 selling big time could also be because the times of war we live in (but that's another matter - at least sort of).

@uptownsoul

One console is in a natural period of sales growth (PS5) and one is in a natural period of sales decline (Switch) but Switch is aging very gracefully and with Tears of the Kingdom to release this year the old girl may have a few surprises in her yet.

Microsoft should be the ones worried, they had to practically give the Series S away at the end of the year to stay relevant in this discussion (and Series X was also discounted 20/30 quid). Beginning to think even buying Activision Blizzard won't help them (and I will laugh if it doesn't, make your own games ffs and stop stealing decade long multiplatform games IP from everyone).

@BANJO

What a very Reggie thing to say 😂

@shgamer

Nintendo doesn't disclose digital sales figures so we don't know.

@KindofaBigDeal Point taken. You're right that list is a guess after all.

The drop in sales doesn't surprise me, going from the second pandemic year to one where the UK was facing a massive cost crisis. It's nice to see a console I actually own coming out on top.

Interesting to see where Nintendo Switch Sports got to. As last year proved, being in Number Ten isn't a sure thing.

@KindofaBigDeal 😂 I thought it was quite forward of me but it sums up the current situation. You can only sell something if it's in stock 😂
No doubt the stock issues for Sony has benefitted Nintendo. PS5 providing it resolves it's stock issues will nearly guarantee it to sell the most this year. (2023)
Switch is aging gracefully as you say, 2023 sales will be down but still relatively solid I would think. (Perhaps 13 to 15 million)
It's been a fantastic console and a real turning of the tide compared to the Wii U.
2024 should see the Switch successor release, I'm intrigued to see how Nintendo follow up upon the success of the Switch...
Time will tell...

@BANJO

You sum it up pretty well and I agree. Only wildcard is Xbox, it absolutely NEEDs to get some big hitters out next year or it may be too late for the Series consoles already.

After suffering through the Wii U days the Switch has been a revelation for me. All I want for the Switch successor is a Switch 2 with more power (within reason), OLED screen as standard, improved joycons and backwards compatability that will enhance the performance of all those games with unlocked FPS and dynamic resolution.

Surely not too much to ask for!

@KindofaBigDeal Yes, Xbox needs some heavy hitters quickly. I picked up one of those Series S's you mentioned when they went down to £189.00 around black Friday. It's a fantastic machine for the price, along with a Gamepass subscription. However, it now needs the exclusive games badly going forwards for it to hit it's stride.
Forza Motorsport, Starfield, Redfall and really Hellblade 2 need to hit their 2023 release dates to help Microsoft push forwards this generation.

I suffered through the Wii U days like you, long droughts between games and poor third party support. I'm still glad I got one however, a great console even with all it's faults.

Your ideals for the Switch 2 are basically mine, more power, better joy-cons and backwards compatibility..

Certainly sounds like a good idea, I hope it's the route Nintendo takes...

@Arawn93 only because of limited availability first half 2022 of sony ps5 did nintendo win out

I never like the games that mostly played by those UK peoples.
Peoples need to give more appreciation for unpopular / niche games that have more quality than the over popular games.

@eltomo Couldnt find a Switch at stores for nearly 2 years after launch also

@Anti-Matter No they don't mate, people need to buy whatever games they enjoy playing. For a majority thats fifa, gta etc not my bag personally but theres a reason they sell. For someone always pushing kid centric poorly reviewed games you should appreciate that.

@Roibeard64
I will never support over popular games like FIFA, fortnite, just dance, etc.
They are very lame stuffs in my opinion.
Some of unpopular / niche games have better gameplay and more fun to play for me than those over popular games.

@Anti-Matter not asking you to support them just to recognise others like things you dont and stop moaning that things you don't personally like sell well. If majority just want to enjoy fifa or fortnite let them , doesn't impact me playing whatever I want.

Nintendo Switch outsold ps4 and the gameboy/gameboy color WORLDWIDE!

@johnvboy It did, it just recently beat the Game Boy in the VGChartz now.

@Anti-Matter People can play what they want and what does it have to do about British people? In my opinion with Indie games only the quality ones get the spotlight otherwise it's usually shovel ware like jojo siwa

@Blooberz
At least Jojo Siwa is still playable and I knew the gameplay was like cheap mobile games but I prefer to play that game since it looks acceptable for me.

@Anti-Matter OK And how old are you exactly? Just wondering... cuz well Jojo Siwa...

@Blooberz
I am 38 years old dude.
You are not wrong hearing.
I am thirty eight years old.
I have never knew about Jojo Siwa before, I got introduced about Jojo Siwa from the video games on PS4 / Switch version by Outright Games.
I have quite a lot of kids games by Outright Games on PS4 such as Paw Patrol games, Race with Ryan, Transformers Battlegrounds, Crayola Scoot, Dragons Dawn of New Riders, Ice Age Scrat's Nutty Adventure, etc.

@Serpenterror,

And we still have a bit until the financial year ends, and Nintendo give their official total, could be around 120 million by then.. if it has, the current Switch is going to be around for a while yet.

@uptownsoul Meanwhile the Switch did great in 2022, but sales are going to decline again in 2023
Bust a nutt laughing at this one. Really if that's all one has to offer one needs to keep trying. With TOTK and Amiibos re-releasing that's not going to happen. And if the Switch 2/pro/Super comes then I wonder what else they will say.

@johnvboy They haven’t officially released the latest numbers but I’ve no doubt it’s very comfortably #3 by now. Even a year ago I wouldn’t have said so but, given Nintendo seem to believe they’ll still sell another 20m consoles in 2023, there’s a little bit of a chance it’ll even challenge DS and PS2 come mid 2024.

@arabiansanchez,

Totally agree.

As I have always said you can't judge the Switch in normal console lifecycle terms, the console is still in great demand and appeals to a wider demographic than the traditional core, a lot of these potential owners do not see the switch as an old console.

Also peoples metric always seems to be consoles sat on store shelves etc, but pretty sure at this point Nintendo are not making them artificially scarce, as they are trying too sell as many as possible, I am also pretty sure people are not just standing in a store staring at these consoles on shelves, so it is possible they are selling and being restocked on the same shelves, you know in the traditional manner.

My guess is Nintendo will push OLED production through the roof this year, as this would have been the area they were possibly struggling for parts, plus the console is far more desirable, even more so if you throw in a few limited edeition themed models, Zelda 2 anyone !!!. They could easily sell 20 plus million this year, and as yet with no real tangible price cut

We just have to think outside the core console mindset with this, and just because some want Nintendo to release a new Switch or pro model, it does not mean Nintendo actually need to. the core often confuse what they want, with what Nintendo need to do.

@johnvboy All totally plausible. Nice.

I personally think they’ll aim for late 2024 with a new console. They won’t officially reveal it until the eleventh hour, just like Switch. That was 5 months from the unveil trailer to release.

The current hardware still has a good 18 months to shift stock without anything ‘officially’ taking its place.