It's Official, Total Switch Sales Have Now Surpassed The Game Boy And PS4

The console that keeps on keeping on.

I hope Switch lasts for another few years and gets an upgrade of some sort as I have a massive backlog for it and I want to pretend I have a chance of catching up.

It's deserved. I have a PS5 and a decent PC and most my time is spent on the Switch. I'm a tactical rpg and retro fps enthusiast. It's so weird and rad to have a portable that does that.

All of these sales without a single permanent pricedrop.

They might do that this holiday as a swan song.

Impressive, Nintendo!

Switch sales might be surpass PS4 sales, but... still there are some 3rd party multi console games got worse treatment on Switch version such as fps downgrade, partial download, code in box, streaming only, etc. 🤨
Not to mention the abysmal graphic level of the environments in Pokemon Scarlet / Violet.
What was Gamefreaks staff doing in their office last year ?
Dancing around with monkeys and outdated developer kit ?

Very impressive, it achieved this milestone much faster than the PS4 and Gameboy on top of that.

So well deserved too. The Switch has such an amazing library of games.

Impressive yet unsurprising, it’s a hybrid console with an amazing library. And production is increasing for this year! The Switch is a legend, and is already my favourite console along with the PS2 and DS (which coincidentally are the best selling consoles… for now 😅).

Well done to Nintendo, not everything is about having the best graphics and hardware. There is a great balance and variety of games. Being able to take the switch anywhere is its biggest strength. I expect to sell more than the DS with big name games coming soon.

Well deserved. The Switch is such a fantastic console. Probably the best software lineup of any Nintendo system ever. Third best selling games console of all time is quite the achievement. Now it's time for the Switch to pass the PS2 and DS.

Imagine if they gave it a decent price cut… it’s bound to happen, but right now it’s just not necessary to shift units! Incredible success.

Nintendo Switch is a selling monster console. I love it. Best console I own. It is better than N64 the beginning few years it was great and better than the Gamecube.

It will be very interesting to see if the Switch's successor builds on these figures. I hope so, it's been nice being a Nintendo fan with fairly regular big-name titles coming out.

The switch is so convenient, I can play it wherever I want to, wile Nintendo lacks in the technical department, i can’t deny how much joy this little guy have brought me!

I think my switch is on the way out. I can barely get around an hour and 30 minutes of playtime from the thing nowadays. Would be nice if a switch 2 comes out sooner rather than later so I can just upgrade.

@AmplifyMJ @Friendly Yeah, though the era of permanent price cuts is over.

The little console that could.

It just needs to sell 40 million more units worldwide then it will beat the PS2 worldwide sales record which is impressive since the Nintendo Switch is a pure videogame console which doesn't rely on other media (no internet browser, no entertainment app such as Netflix and Disney+), powers, or any backwards compatibility (not compatible with any consoles that came before it) to sell its console.

That means that there are 9 Switches for every Wii U and 5 DSs for every 4 Switches

Presumably, Game Boy sales also include Game Boy Color, which is cooking the books a little bit.

Nintendo could break PS2 record if it slashes price but this doesn't really isn't a goal. Switch 2 will come next 2 years cause sales already started to slow down. It wont break PS2 record but still an impressive run. Just hope they wont screw this up again like with Wii U.

I would wager the odds of Switch beating PS2 sales lies on if the next machine is backward compatible or not.

We saw the 3DS limp on for years thanks to it's massive library of good games, I can see the Switch doing the same if the next machine doesn't play Switch games natively. Limping over the PS2 sales before it stops being made.

If it's a "Switch 2" with full BC (or even a different machine that also plays Switch games) then I imagine sales would dry up much quicker.

It's difficult to sell more than ds.
Nintendo released 4 different ds models with one of them DSI upgraded on hardware that gave it more lifetime. Switch has not an upgraded version on hardaware, only switch oled that has a better screen. If we had a switch pro as famous said in the past, with a bigger lifetime, then switch might be the best selling console ever, even from ps2 not only ds.

@dimi Sony will probably never see high sales figure like the PS2 ever again. The reason the PS2 even sell that much was cause it was a cheap DVD player in addition to being a game console for PS1 and PS2 titles. If Switch beat PS2 in worldwide sales then that's it for Sony and they won't be able to make a comeback unless they make a waterdown console like the PS2 again.

Also unlike Nintendo, the PS2 was on the market for 12 years, got its price slash on multiple occassions while keeping its library large with over 4000 games across PS1 & PS2 and over 5000 DVD movies compatibility, it's a home run non-HD entertainment system on a budget. Nowadays with PS3, PS4, and PS5 Sony seem to have trouble keeping up with sales and they kept adding and removing features making some consumers angry. Nintendo refusal to dropped the Switch price will comeback to bite them if they're not careful with 2023 going forward.

Considering that the Switch unifies Nintendo's console and handheld lines, it is interesting to compare not just individual systems, but generations (first two are tricky because there are no separate numbers for GB and GBC - let's say GB 70 Million, GBC 48.69 Million) :

NES + GB: 157.79 Million
SNES + GBC: 97.79 Million
N64 + Virtual Boy (?): >32.93 Million
GC + GBA: 103.25 Million
Wii + DS: 255.65 Million
Wii U + 3DS: 89.5 Million
Switch: 122.55 Million

So while Switch is clearly super successful and did surpass the previous generation, it is still far from repeating the combined success of Wii + DS for Nintendo, even NES + GB will probably not be matched.

Welp, that's ~32[-35] million units away from the all-time best seller crown marginally hugged by PS2's 155 (or 158 although that number, despite claiming to cite the January 2013 data, only seems to have appeared in the recent times, alongside occasional more egregious stuff like "161 mln"🤔😅). With no price cuts yet used and many a software treat still on the horizon even before any 2023 Directs. At this point, Switch not only has an official shot at the "crown" but the possibility of outright coasting along toward it. Even if the successor sneaks up on it in 2024 with a "BC"-engraved bat in hands, there would still be the aforesaid price cut card to play (which, FAWK, might just be Nintendo's plan after they observed their past generation transitions).

@Serpenterror I've been thinking for a while if Sony would try to keep up the arms race against Xbox. Not to mention their own race of releasing a new system with next to no games for the first few years. Wouldn't be surprised if Sony started to hype up potential PS6 only to sell the brand.

@NintendoWife
These kind of comparisons are dumb because they fail to account for any amount of cross-platform ownership.

@westman98 🤔﹖What do you mean?
If you are talking about one person owning several systems - how is that relevant to Nintendo? They sell a system and get the money, no matter what other systems the buyer already owns.
If you were talking about the temporal offset between console and handheld timelines, that should even out over time, so it shouldn't affect the combined numbers too much.
But I'm not sure what you were trying to say.

Don't believe in the semiconductor shortage excuse

I love to see this. In a market which has completely plateaued now and all we're seeing are visual upgrades with each console generation, it shows that Nintendo doing their thing and sticking to their guns still works after so many years.

Fun will always win out over 4K/120fps for me.

Alright, how do we convince 32 million DS owners to move over to the Switch? The only way that will ever possibly happen is if the Switch is more affordable than mobile devices, and if they give everyone a reason to play on the go with a dedicated device rather than their phones.

I just wanna see the switch beat the DS. I think Nintendo needs to ramp up marketing again.

@NintendoWife
The reason this isn't a comparison that is brought up is because most people who own one likely already owns the other.

@NintendoWife Nah bro, Switch ecosystem alone give Nintendo more profit than DS + Wii ecosystem even they both sold more unit than Switch

@ibookboyuk With PS2 at 155, Switch at 122.55, so another 33 million. That's achievable bro because Nintendo have a card to play = slash the price $50 dollar each (Lite $150, V2 $250, OLED $300). And with the news that Switch 2 didn't coming this year 2023, that's help a lot

@ModdedInkling But how is that relevant? We're talking about total units sold, not user base.

@Jemae Where are you taking that from? Hardware sales should have generated more revenue with 255.65 Million units DS + Wii compared to 122.55 Million just Switch. Same story with software, Nintendo themselves lists total software sales as follows:
Switch: 994.30 Million
Wii: 921.85 Million
DS: 948.76 Million
Source: https://www.nintendo.co.jp/ir/en/finance/hard_soft/index.html
I think you're mistaken.

@NintendoWife
Obviously it's easier to sell more hardware units when you are selling two distinct hardware platforms simultaneously rather than just one.

@NintendoWife I think someone here (I didn't remember already) provide data previously that the Switch's profit already exceeded DS + Wii's profit combined. I will try searching that data. But we also can see here that the Switch + it's games price are much higher + revenues from eShop digital + smartphone business. All of this didn't have in DS + Wii era

@westman98 Yes And? What we're trying to discuss here is how much financial success Nintendo had at any given point in time. And the point I'm making is that they likely made even more money in the DS + Wii days. Is it easier to sell 2 different platforms than one? Possibly, but they had good reasons for their decision to scale back to just one line. Nintendo know what they are doing. They realized they couldn't support 2 systems anymore in this age.

All I'm trying to say is: Comparing Switch to just one of the two lines it replaced is misleading.

This is a make-it or break-it year to see if the base Switch sales stay relatively consistent or not and will help determine if it might reach 155million+ lifetime consoles sold.

That's amazing, and well deserved. I hope it goes on to outsell the DS as well. Switch is the perfect form for a games machine - traditional controls and good graphics, about as good as you can get whilst also keeping the hybrid functionality. The follow-up console should definitely keep the same principles.

If Nintendo Switch had Call of Duty games and GTA 5... It probably would be the best-selling conosle in the world already. But Activision Blizzard and Rockstar Games are too much stupid to understand that, sadly to us, Switch users. Also, that's good time to be a Nintendo fan. I'm happy. And I'm hope that Switch sales will overtake PS2 sales, and Switch will become the best-selling console in the world. Yep...

@NintendoWife The Switch did surpass the combined profit of the Wii+DS. That data comes from previous financial reports from Nintendo.

The failure of the Wii U continues to be staggering.

@BTB20 Ah yes? Would love to read more about that, if you can still find the link!

The Switch will have outsold both the DS and PlayStation 2 by 2025, and Nintendo will announce a new console on that same year! I'm already calling it. Nintendo is indeed doomed, right?

Since this is the first generation where they’ve sold only one system, it’s notable that the Switch has also outsold some past generations in their entirety. While probably nothing will ever touch Wii + DS, the Switch has handily outsold GameCube + GBA and Wii U + 3DS, which is a nice confirmation that combining their handheld and console efforts was a good move.

@Tyranexx Yeah it might! Between announcement and release of the next system should typically be 1 year, and Nintendo haven’t even hinted at the next system… so Switch should have 2 more years, let’s say sales stay on the current level, 20 Million a year… then it should get to 150 Million. And it won’t stop selling immediately either, N might keep Switch around for a while.

@Uncle_Franklin
Ironically the immense success of the Switch has only increased the value of the Wii U in 2023. Crazy to think it sold just over 13 Million units in its lifespan, it’s a collectors item now. Wii U is pretty much Nintendos Virtual boy of this era.

@NintendoWife I think you have your generations misaligned here. Game Boy launched in 1989, six years after the Famicom and just one year before the Super Famicom, spending the majority of its life coexisting with the 16-bit home console. Game Boy Color didn’t coexist with the Super Nintendo at all, launching in 1998, two years after the N64 hit the market.

@NintendoWife Here's a graph that I found based on their reports since 1981:
https://imgur.com/3vLnzA9
The green bars are net income, so basically profit.

This console sale numbers are insane. Not even a price cut has been introduced. It’s an extremely impressive feat, makes sense why they’re generating so much revenue being as stingy as they have been. It will likely be the all time best selling console by 2025…just in time for its successor to be released 😉

“The Switch sold an impressive 14.91 million units during FY 2023, and while this is an overall drop of 21.3% when compared to FY 2022,”

Can someone please explain this sentence to me? FY 2022 was 12 months April 21-March 22 and so far FY 2023 has only been 9 months as of this 3rd qtr report April 22-Dec 22 so of course FY 23 is 20% less than FY 22 b/c it’s 25% less time. So what am I missing? 🤷🏻‍♂️

And still the earnings underperformed… sigh

Where's the Virtual Boy sales?

@rjejr they probably meant compared to the first 9 months of FY 2022

@Rainz

I remember thinking the N64 was a failure sales wise.

Wish I hadn't sold my Wii U now.

@Anti-Matter It took Gamefreak several entries to get the most out of the DS and 3DS. They won't be making proper PS3 level games until 2026, imo. The game after the game after Scarlet/Violet will probably look good enough for most of us. I'm not defending them, I'm just realistic about what Gamefreak is. I didn't even buy Scarlet/Violet because it looked worse than Arceus and SW/SH. A Pokemon game that's beautiful would need to be outsourced to good developers, kinda like Pokemon Stadium or Colosseum was.

Switch is coming for the DS next... and then the PS2.

@ArcticEcho
I think Bandai Namco should take over Pokemon games development as they did good job from making Pokken and New Pokemon Snap.
Gamefreak at this point was incompetent developer who sit on laurels and did nothing serious.

@Anti-Matter I 100% agree. I think they could make a very beautiful Pokemon game.

@Vyacheslav333 If Microsoft acquires Them, then Call of Duty will come on the Switch.

@ekwcll Hahahahaha. Why Activision Blizzard didn't make/port any of Call of Duty games on Switch before?

No way it can win over the DS, i mean no way!!

@chefgon Good one, thanks for the correction. Makes sense too, the "N64 / Virtual Boy" generation seemed wrong anyway

So it should look more like:
NES: 61.91 Million
SNES + GB: 119.10 Million
N64 + GBC: 81.62 Million
GC + GBA: 103.25 Million
Wii + DS: 255.65 Million
Wii U + 3DS: 89.5 Million
Switch: 122.55 Million

(GB and GBC could be split differently, bringing those two generations closer together, likely)

The thing with the Switch is that gave gamers the best of both worlds. In the past, you had the experience of sitting in front of a big screen tv and feeling like you were a part of a movie. Or you had the ability to take fun, but relatively limited games on the go with you.

Switch provided elements of both. I think the result is that it’s easier to feel connected with the experience. You can have those nights with friends and a couple of pizzas, or you can settle into a comfy chair and do your own thing without your activity having to be the center of all activity.

I find Switch gaming to be a more personalized experience. I remember sitting down with BOTW as it rained outside. Link rolled into a stable as a thunderstorm moved the area of the map he occupied. I had him just hang out, talk to people and watch the storm unfold. But because of my surroundings, it felt deeper. It created one of those touchpoint moments with a game that you remember years later.

There are some games that the Switch will never touch, like Ghost of Tsushima or the latest open world offering from Rockstar. But that’s okay. That’s what a PlayStation or Xbox is for. The Switch is something different. It’s more of a companion device.

Here's the thing about sales numbers. Switch took only 6 years to accomplish what those consoles did in lifetime sales after production stopped. But this is what is missed out when people talk about numbers but failed to acknowledge it took Switch 6 years In-Production to overcome consoles that are no longer made. So if one does proportion math if the Switch sold like their figure in lifetime production this-there would be no comparisons for production. If people want to compare any console number they should use the Years in Production/Sales compared to Switch Years in Production (currently)/Sales to do real comparisons to show how vast the Switch is doing far better then expected. Rather then grab numbers and say they made this much but the Switch only sold this much-this is a one's own created Fallacy comparisons.

example:
https://www.statista.com/statistics/227012/lifetime-unit-sales-of-nintendos-home-consoles/

If you look at the color bars you can tell how many years with production to show a real comparisons to show that the Switch in short of time it was released in March 2017 it's numbers show how fast it rose to the top it such short time. But this is the part that as said before is missed out when debating Productions numbers as those consoles are no longer made but people make it sound like they are still in production which is no longer true.

@Tantani Yeah maybe, but they didn’t say that. I mean I know it’s confusing FY vs calendar year but if you’re going to write the article try to make the confusing part clear for the people reading it. 🤷🏻‍♂️

I’m honestly surprised Nintendo gave out so many FY numbers in a report based on their 3rd qtr, usually all of the year over year stuff is in the April/May meeting after their fiscal year ends. And I find it kind of strange NL 5-7 articles about FY sales 3/4 of the way thru the current fiscal year. Some of it may be calendar year related but I don’t recall reading the words “calendar year”.

popularity is so often inversely correlated to quality.

S/o to Nintendo for achieving the sales milestone, but fvck Nintendo at the same time over their shady/greedy business practices, i.e., joy-con drift, suing rom hosting sites, eshop shutdowns (lol), selling game titles from 2x console generations ago at regular price ($60), etc.

Every system becomes "underpowered" at some point, which is why I don't focus on that sort of thing. A good system is a good system, period. Don't judge a system by what it doesn't have. Judge it by what it does have.

@John_Deacon I feel that, hard. I got the Switch right when I got out of homelessness, thanks to the VA. I remember, I used to look at myself in a mirror and realize that everything I was wearing was from a clothes bank, or otherwise given to me. The day I bought the Switch, I looked in the mirror and noted that everything I was wearing, I had bought. Weird story, but the next few weeks of playing Oddysey and BotW are some of the best Nintendo memories I have. And I've been playing their games since 1985.
...I really like the Switch is what I'm saying, dear diary.

Let's all buy 100,000 more Switches each and help it reach that goal! Okay, maybe that's not very realistic. Let's just buy 10,000 each.

@Dog

nice condescension. well played.

both can be true at once. 👍

After 6 years we're still playing with (under)power

Congrats to Nintendo for bringing out a(n) (obviously) compelling console. (The numbers speak for themselves.)

Congrats (and Thank-You) to all the developers for bringing so many great games to the platform! (Much appreciated, having been a Wii U owner. LOL.)

And Thank-You to the media (Like NintendoLife) for keeping us all up-to-date on the latest and greatest! And making it easy to find out about new games we might want to play and how to set-up our Switch consoles!

@Uncle_Franklin in terms of hardware, of course. But they were able to resell much of the software, so from that standpoint, they recouped a lot of that.

@Dog

What entitlement are you referring to?

A consumer is perfectly within their rights to dislike a company's practices, and act accordingly.

@Uncle_Franklin Not when you agreed to their EULA or TOS you don't get much say. One can opinion all they want but at the end of the day EULA rules.

@SwitchForce

I don't believe those prevent consumers from refraining from purchasing products.

In any case, the commenter took issue with another expressing an opinion (which touched upon other issues which you declined to cherry pick) It is not 'entitled' to express an opinion.

Switch really is in the running to become the best selling console of all time. The PS2 only sold 110 million after 6 years:
https://www.ign.com/articles/2006/12/19/ps2-2006-year-in-review

The PS3 came out in 2006, but was so expensive that the PS2 continued to sell respectable numbers for several years thereafter. If the Switch 2 completely replaces the Switch then that's the only way I see it not catching up to the PS2.

@rjejr you are right, they should have cleared it up, but Nintendo post year over year info every quarter

@Zuljaras agreed. I have a massive library of games and I'm in no hurry to upgrade. Though the thought of a backwards compatible switch with a boost to games in the way the PS5 did for PS4 is highly enticing. Giving 30fps Switch games the chance to run at 60fps sounds fun.

@KBuckley27 Why?