Nintendo Switch Nintendo Switch 2
Image: Nintendo Life

As we've now seen, Switch 2 sales have seemingly exceeded Nintendo's expectations, after shifting 10.36 million units (as of 30th September 2025) and becoming the "fastest-selling Nintendo hardware to date". This has also reportedly resulted in a slump in Switch sales, with Nintendo cutting back its forecast of the original hybrid system.

Nintendo's president Shuntaro Furukawa has now revealed how 84% of Nintendo Switch 2 players transitioned across from the original Switch systems. This was not only "early adopters" of the original Switch hardware, but also consumers who began playing the Switch at "various points of its lifecycle".

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"Consumers who purchased Nintendo Switch between its launch in 2017 and the launch of the Nintendo Switch 2 have been uniformly migrating to Nintendo Switch 2."

As you can see in the slide below, 16% of Switch 2 players are completely "new players". Below this is a breakdown of Switch 2 owners and the time frame when they purchased the original Switch, according to Nintendo's internal data.

Switch 2
Image: Nintendo

Nintendo's original Switch system has now sold more than 154 million units, which shows there are still plenty of players out there who have not yet made the shift across to the Switch 2, but likely will at some stage during the new unit's lifecycle.

Furukawa also notes how this data illustrates how existing Switch players are "smoothly transitioning to the Nintendo Switch 2", and allowing Nintendo to maintain relationships with players "across platform generations". Admittedly, it should probably come as no surprise that many of Switch 2's early adopters are existing Switch players, but it's still interesting to see the exact percentage.

Are you one of the many Switch 2 players who transitioned from the Switch? Let us know in the comments.