According to a press release issued by Nintendo this morning, the Nintendo Switch is the fastest-selling console of this generation through 21 months, according to the NPD Group. With the Switch’s stellar lineup of games, this is of little surprise, but the real question is if it can keep up this pace with the lack of third-party support that Sony and Microsoft have; that has yet to be seen, although they have gotten some very impressive third-party ports. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate sold 3 million units in just 11 days in the United States.
With Smash and Pokemon Let’s Go! coming out this holiday season, and games like Metroid, Animal Crossing, Bayonetta 3, and Shin Megami Tensei still in the works (and possibly a port of Persona 5), there’s still so much to look forward to. The Switch will be a bigger hit than anyone could have imagined.
“REDMOND, Wash.–(BUSINESS WIRE)– Nintendo Switch has become the fastest-selling video game system of this hardware generation through 21 months, according to The NPD Group, which tracks video game sales in the United States. From its launch in March 2017 through November 2018, Nintendo Switch has sold more than 8.7 million units, outpacing U.S. sales of all other current-generation systems at the same point in their life cycles.
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate has sold over 3 million units in 11 days in the United States according to Nintendo’s internal sales data. (Graphic: Business Wire)
Nintendo is also the overall top-selling U.S. software publisher so far for 2018, according to NPD data through November. This performance should receive an additional boost from the December release of the Super Smash Bros. Ultimate game, which has become not only the fastest-selling Nintendo Switch game of all time, but also the fastest-selling game in the Super Smash Bros. series, with U.S. sales of over 3 million units in just 11 days, according to Nintendo’s internal sales data.
“We are thrilled to see such a strong reaction from consumers in the second holiday season for Nintendo Switch,” said Doug Bowser, Nintendo of America’s Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing. “We’re looking forward to delivering more excitement and smiles to our fans in the coming year and beyond.”
The following data from Nintendo of America is specific to the U.S. only:
- Nintendo hardware unit and dollar sales for 2018 are at their highest annual totals since 2011.
- Nintendo eShop sales have grown 105 percent over 2017.”
This was a bit of a down year for the Switch, but 2019 should be interesting as Nintendo will undoubtedly have some incredible software to reveal.