There are numerous ways to measure success in the gaming industry. Most people look at not just sales success but how those sales compare to the other games or consoles that have come before it. For the Nintendo Switch, many people wondered if it would even make an impact given the lack of success of the Wii U. Then when it was made clear that it was going to be a long-lasting console, the question became, “How much could it sell?” Today, the latest financial report from Nintendo came out, and it highlighted that the Switch is within a stone’s throw of becoming the highest-selling hardware unit ever.
The Switch now stands at 141.32 units sold, which is an incredible amount. Just as important, though, is that the highest-selling system of all time is the Nintendo DS, which stands at just over 154 million. That means that the Switch just needs a few more good quarters to overtake it. Now, given the state of the Switch, some might think that it’s a “big ask” for it to gain another 13 million. However, Nintendo noted in their report that over the last fiscal period, they gained over 15 million units between the three versions of the Switch.
Thus, if they’re able to mimic that throughout the next fiscal year, or even do around that across the next several quarters, than the Switch will be the best-selling hardware platform ever before the end of the year. That would be quite a feat, given how Nintendo wasn’t sure how well the Switch was going to do upon launch.
The real question will be about the games that help drive people to the Nintendo Switch over the next few months to help it reach this milestone. The Switch’s software lineup isn’t the best for 2024. The next big games are Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door and Luigi’s Mansion 2 HD. While both are likely to be million-sellers, they’re not the kinds of games that will likely move lots of hardware units, even if they come out with special editions.
That doesn’t mean there isn’t hope, though. Nintendo did drop the news that they would release a Nintendo Direct in June that would focus on software coming to the Switch for the rest of the year. So if they have a few hidden “big titles” coming out in the next seven months, that could help things to where the Switch would finally be on top.
