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Switch hits 107.6m as Nintendo claims its ‘highest annual software sales ever’ | VGC

Kirby clears 2.1m in 2 weeks, Pokémon Legends sold 12.64m and Metroid Dread managed 2.9…

www.videogameschronicle.com

Nintendo Switch has made further ground on the company’s best-ever selling games hardware, with 107.65 million units shipped as of March 31, 2022, it said on Tuesday.

Earlier this year Switch was already confirmed as the best-selling Nintendo home console of all-time, beating Wii’s 101.63m. However, it still has a way to go before it matches Nintendo DS’s 154.02 million units sold, and Game Boy (and Game Boy Color) at 118.69m.

Outside of Nintendo’s own consoles, only PlayStation 4 (116.6m) and PlayStation 2 (155m) have outsold Nintendo Switch.

Overall, Nintendo sold 23.06 million Switch consoles during its 22 fiscal year, which represents a 20% decline from the previous year when the console peaked at 28.83 million units.

The company noted that Animal Crossing: New Horizons was a major driver of hardware sales during its previous fiscal year, and that FY22 was also affected by shortages of semiconductor components and other parts.

Around 25% of the year’s Switch sales were the new OLED unit, Nintendo said, while the standard console made up 58.7%. Switch launched in March 2017, Switch Lite released in September 2019, and the new Nintendo Switch OLED model launched in October 2021.

The company said it expects to ship 21m consoles before the end of its current fiscal year in March 2023, which represents a 9.8% decline from the previous year and a 37% decline from FY 2020. However, it should be noted that Nintendo is known for its conservative projections.

As is traditional for its financial reports, Nintendo also provided updated software sales numbers on Tuesday.

A total of 39 titles sold over one million units during Nintendo’s FY22. As a result, software sales grew 1.8% year-on-year to 235.07 million units, making it the highest annual software sales figure ever posted for a Nintendo platform to date, according to the company.

The company confirmed that recent release Kirby: The Forgotten Land sold 2.1m units in 2 weeks, while Pokémon Legends: Arceus sold 12.64m units and Metroid Dread managed 2.9m.

Nintendo reiterated that it expects to ship first-party titles such as Splatoon 3, Bayonetta 3 and Pokémon Scarlet and Violet during 2022. In addition, Mario Party Superstars sold 6.88 million units, and The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD sold 3.91 million units.

Titles released in previous fiscal years also continued to perform well, with Mario Kart 8 Deluxe selling 9.94 million units (for a total of 45.33m units) and Animal Crossing: New Horizons selling 6.01 million units (for a total of 38.64m units).

Looking forward to the remainder of its current fiscal year, Nintendo said it expected major software releases such as Pokémon Scarlet and Violet to drive hardware sales.

“Regarding Nintendo Switch, we will continue to convey the appeal of all three hardware models to maintain a high level of sales momentum and expand the install base.

“As for software, along with the release of Nintendo Switch Sports in April, we have planned the global releases of Xenoblade 3 (July) and Splatoon 3 (September). In addition, the latest entries in the Pokémon series, Pokémon Scarlet and Pokémon Violet, are slated for release in late 2022.”

“Other software publishers also plan to release a wide variety of titles, and we will work to strengthen sales through the combination of existing popular titles and a continuous stream of new titles.”

 

[BlueAlpaca]

 

[Andyliini]

Great numbers all around. Some observations:

According to Nintendo's projections, Switch will pass PS4 and Game Boy during this fiscal year.

Metroid Dread is now the best selling Metroid game ever.

And, that's it. Not much to analyze here. Switch sold around 4 million units this quarter, which is about expected. Let's see if they can keep up with the projections for the rest of the year.

 

[Y0ssarian]

 

[SeraphJan]

Its going to be difficulty to reach DS sales, unless they just continue releasing new revisions with improved hardware in the future and call it Nintendo Switch without the 2, then the sales number could be infinite, it wouldn't matter anymore at that point. Whatever the naming is, or whatever the category it is, be it best console, best handheld, best hybrid (these are just marketing terms), what's most important is how much did a product sold in a given amount of time.

NDS sold 125.13 in an exact 5 years window. As of May, its 5 years and 2 month for Switch, although a bit behind NDS, but a device sold more than 100 million around 5 years windows is still incredible, surpassing PS4 which sold 86 million within 5 years.

As amazing as Switch is NDS is still my favorite handheld.

 

[nightmare-slain]

Switch going after the PS4 and it still has life in it yet. we could get a new lite model and imagine if they gave the standard/oled models a price drop.

 

[Riky]

Pretty incredible after the Wii U, which I liked but failed. To go past Wii numbers isn't something I thought I'd see a Nintendo console manage, hats off to them.

 

[Punished Miku]

Just announce a Splatoon 3 pro controller you fools.

 

[phil_t98]

looks like it will outsell the PS4 which is no mean feat at all

 

[nightmare-slain]

looks like it will outsell the PS4 which is no mean feat at all

and ps4 has been around longer. not only will it sell out ps4 but it’s doing it quicker. switch is only 5 years old. ps4 is almost 9.

 

[Marvel14]

Where are the " it's just a handheld so don't compare it to my fav console you moron" trolls?

Come out come out...we know you're lurking, enflamed.

 

[Robb]

Switch crushing it as usual. It’s going to be fun seeing where it’ll end up. I feel Ps2 and DS will be very difficult to beat, but who knows.

 

[Craig of War]

Should pass the PS4 this year & be over 125M by end of this year then it will past PS2 it only a matter of time

 

[LordOcidax]

Almost 108 million… Without a price drop. Also the Pokemon franchise sold 36 million past year. Really big numbers.

 

[ArtHands]

So Nintendo Switch will outsell PS4 by the end of this year.

 

[K' Dash]

They'll probably do a price drop to get to 150 million and keep selling after that.

 

[Fess]

Metroid Dread is now the best selling Metroid game ever.

Finally some good Metroid news! It’s such an awesome game. It really only stumbles on exploration hand-holding, it was way too easy to 100%, still a 10 though imo.

 

[AJUMP23]

No need for Switch pro.

 

[Bonfires Down]

Whether it will outsell the DS/PS2 I think depends a lot on when the successor is out.

 

[OmegaSupreme]

No stopping this train.

 

[ManaByte]

PS2 be like:

 

[NeoIkaruGAF]

Where are the " it's just a handheld so don't compare it to my fav console you moron" trolls?

Come out come out...we know you're lurking, enflamed.

They'll be back with a vengeance when Switch passes PS4.

But they'll always have PS2 as a last bastion and, let's be real here, getting anywhere near that without a significant hardware boost that can't really be called the Nintendo Switch we know today is almost impossible.

 

[LordCBH]

 

[FStubbs]

PS2 be like:

Eh, more like:

 

[Buggy Loop]

Its going to be difficulty to reach DS sales, unless they just continue releasing new revisions with improved hardware in the future and call it Nintendo Switch without the 2, then the sales number could be infinite, it wouldn't matter anymore at that point. Whatever the naming is, or whatever the category it is, be it best console, best handheld, best hybrid (these are just marketing terms), what's most important is how much did a product sold in a given amount of time.

NDS sold 125.13 in an exact 5 years window. As of May, its 5 years and 2 month for Switch, although a bit behind NDS, but a device sold more than 100 million around 5 years windows is still incredible, surpassing PS4 which sold 86 million within 5 years.

As amazing as Switch is NDS is still my favorite handheld.

Hard? I mean what the hell, it reached those numbers without a price drop… without a freaking price drop since 2017! Typically Nintendo handhelds dropped in price and had iterations that had more impact than an OLED version.

It’s insane how they managed to scalp that thing at full price for 5 years, I repeat, insane.

 

[BusierDonkey]

Hard? I mean what the hell, it reached those numbers without a price drop… without a freaking price drop since 2017! Typically Nintendo handhelds dropped in price and had iterations that had more impact than an OLED version.

It’s insane how they managed to scalp that thing at full price for 5 years, I repeat, insane.

Add to that they've been supply constrained with the Switch to the point they've had to reduce their forecast. They'd have passed 120M by now if they had more systems to sell.

 

[Arioco]

This is crazy, Switch is still selling like hot cakes.

When it comes to Nintendo one never knows. The can be a total failure one generation and then they sell 100 million the next one.

 

[daclynk]

DOOMED!!!!

 

[Luminoth-4545]

Q = Quarter
T = Total for the fiscal year
LTD = Lifetime to date

 

[OmegaSupreme]

The gamecube only sold 21 million? That's shit. It was a great console.

 

[Luminoth-4545]

The gamecube only sold 21 million? That's shit. It was a great console.

The competition was too strong, it deserved to sell much more though.

 

[Codes 208]

the wii u ended around 13m, right? Damn give it another year and if the switch hits 130m that would mean it outsold the wii u 10 to 1. Talk about a redemption arc.

The gamecube only sold 21 million? That's shit. It was a great console.

It went directly against the goliath that is ps2. The og xbox also swooped in and sold around 24.6m sales which didnt help the gamecube.

 

[Krappadizzle]

 

[StreetsofBeige]

Switch keeps humming. They’ll surpass PS4’s 120M by Xmas. And PS2’s 150M by sometime in 2024.

 

[Luminoth-4545]

Bar charts for Nintendo Switch hardware and software

 

[Elder Legend]

But Nintendo is Doomed I heard.

 

[Bo_Hazem]

Second most sold handheld console then! If someone takes it seriously though, despite of the lack of AAA gaming capabilities, it'll most likely pass PS2.

 

[Impotaku]

The beauty of so many switches been out in the wild is that devs can take risks releasing quirky niche games because even if a tiny fraction of gamers buy them then they can do good numbers in sales. So many games are been released that i'm seriously struggling to keep up, the thing is a goldmine for 3rd party & indie stuff. Upto 180 games so far and there's still another 20+ on my shopping list to pick up still. Was slow at the start but now it's feeling like the DS where every month something new & fun appears in one of the 3 main regions.

 

[Bo_Hazem]

 

[Redefine07]

I just got a Switch OLED + Zelda BotW my first Zelda game I would play

 

[Luminoth-4545]

Numbers in brackets represent additional sales in Q4

Top 10

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe: 45.33m (1.98m)

Animal Crossing: 38.64m (1.02m)

Smash Bros Ultimate: 28.17m (0.77m)

Zelda BOTW: 26.55m (0.75m)

Pokémon Sword/Shield: 24.27m (0.37m)

Mario Odyssey: 23.50m (0.48m)

Super Mario Party: 17.78m (0.39m)

Pokémon BD/SP: 14.65m (0.68m)

Pokémon Let's Go: 14.53m (0.20m)

Ring Fit Adventure: 14.09m (0.56m)

Others + New

NSMBU: 13.31m (0.59m)

Splatoon 2: 13.30m (0.62m) includes Q3

Pokémon Legends Arceus: 12.64m New

Luigi's Mansion 3: 11.43m (0.39m)

Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury: 9.43m (0.58m)

Mario Party Superstars: 6.88 million (1.45m)

Clubhouse Games: 4.22 million

Zelda: Skyward Sword HD: 3.91m (0.06m)

Metroid Dread: 2.9m (0.16m)

Kirby and the Forgotten Land: 2.65m New

Mario Golf: Super Rush: 2.35 million (0.09m)

 

[mckmas8808]

Switch is a beast. And yet idiots in the media say that "streaming" is "the" future. People who say this act as if Nintendo don't exist!

 

[MrA]

Switch is a beast. And yet idiots in the media say that "streaming" is "the" future. People who say this act as if Nintendo don't exist!

almost as if they're are people that want things delivered in different ways, there is no 1 future, gamepass, streaming, digital, physical, dedicated, mobile, all of it has a place and none of it is going anywhere

 

[mckmas8808]

almost as if they're are people that want things delivered in different ways, there is no 1 future, gamepass, streaming, digital, physical, dedicated, mobile, all of it has a place and none of it is going anywhere

I agree that all of it is the future. I'm "ONLY" talking about the people that say it'll be "THE" future. As in no more physical media or downloadable media in 10+ years.

 

[MrA]

I agree that all of it is the future. I'm "ONLY" talking about the people that say it'll be "THE" future. As in no more physical media or downloadable media in 10+ years.

Totally agree, thing that perplexes me the most is the “The” future types as you puts weird obsession with less options

 

[BennyBlanco]

Switch will be the best selling console ever.

 

[CosmicComet]

It can surpass the PS2 with a price cut.

It beat the shit out of the PS4 with 3 years less on the market which is crazy. It will pass the PS4 this year.

 

[leo-j]

It can surpass the PS2 with a price cut.

It beat the shit out of the PS4 with 3 years less on the market which is crazy. It will pass the PS4 this year.

Sony also killed ps4 sales last year. They moved all their production to ps5 which is very hard to produce atm.

 

[CosmicComet]

Sony also killed ps4 sales last year. They moved all their production to ps5 which is very hard to produce atm.

It was outpacing the PS4 even prior to the pandemic boost.

And again it still came out 3 years later.

 

[Andyliini]

Switch has been trailing behind DS for now, but If I read the diagram correctly, should Nintendo actually ship the projected 21 million Switches this fiscal year, it would actually outperform DS on it's corresponding Fiscal year (against 17 million from DS). If they can keep Switch high, next year should be massive towards Switch, as DS fell to 5 million a year then.