It was clear from early in the Switch’s life that the system would be a runaway success, but few would predict that it would pass the Wii’s hardware sales as quickly as it did.
Last Thursday Nintendo announced in their yearly earnings report that the Nintendo Switch is now their best-selling home console, reaching a total of 103.54 million units in lifetime sales. When it comes to all Nintendo consoles, however, the Switch still lags behind the Gameboy and DS with 118.69 million and 154.02 million units respectively. Regardless, passing the 100 million sales mark is a big deal, and Nintendo of America President Doug Bowser took to Twitter to thank fans for making it possible.
In addition to the massive sales numbers for the Switch system, many of its games continued to sell extremely well in 2021. This of course includes Breath of the Wild, which now has sold 25.8 million units. Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl have now joined Breath of the Wild on the top 10 best-selling games with a total of 13.97 million copies sold. This sadly means that Splatoon 2 has lost its place on the list, but it is interesting to see that the Switch is by no means slowing down even on the software front.
Throughout its five-year lifespan, the Nintendo Switch has allowed players to play a home console on the go, which is probably a good thing so the gamers can keep up with those runaway sales figures. And it is highly doubtful that the Switch will slow down soon with Kirby and the Forgotten Land, the Breath of the Wild sequel, Splatoon 3, and much more in the pipeline.
