Nintendo has released sales figures for its console and games for the last six months. In total the console has managed to sell millions of units. 12.53 million units have been sold to consumers all across the globe. From April-September 2020 the Switch base and Lite model saw an 80% increase in units sold over the period. This led to a combined 68.30 million units sold marker being hit.
And then there’s the game sales. The Nintendo first-party games have found a ton of success. A lot of these sales are down to just one very popular game. Animal Crossing New Horizons was the best selling Nintendo game in the period analyzed. That game alone sold 14.27 million units, with games like Mario Kart 8 Deluxe shoring up the sales numbers. In total Animal Crossing New Horizons has managed to shift a total of 26.04 million units,
Here are the top 10 selling Nintendo Switch games so far:
- Mario Kart 8 Deluxe – 28.99 million
- Animal Crossing: New Horizons – 26.04 million
- Super Smash Bros. Ultimate – 21.10 million
- The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild – 19.74 million
- Pokémon Sword and Shield – 19.02 million
- Super Mario Odyssey – 18.99 million
- Pokémon: Let’s Go, Pikachu! / Let’s Go, Eevee! – 12.49 million
- Super Mario Party – 12.10 million
- Splatoon 2 – 11.27 million
- New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe – 8.32 million
Between April and September, the window being reported, has revealed a different picture. Newer games lead the sales figures, but a variety of expected first-party titles has led the charge in sales numbers. ACNH leads the numbers with various Mario and Zelda titles dotting the list.
- Animal Crossing: New Horizons 14.27 million
- Super Mario 3D All-Stars 5.21 million
- Mario Kart 8 Deluxe 4.21 million
- Ring Fit Adventure 3.11 million
- Paper Mario: The Origami King 2.82 million
- The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2.32 million
- Super Smash Bros. Ultimate 2.26 million
- Super Mario Party 2.00 million
- Clubhouse Games: 51 Worldwide Classics 1.81 million
- New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe 1.72 million
- Pokémon Sword and Shield 1.65 million
- Super Mario Odyssey 1.58 million
- Luigi’s Mansion 3 1.51 million
- Xenoblade Chronicles Definitive Edition 1.40 million
- Splatoon 2 1.13 million
All in all, it looks like Nintendo has managed to make the best of a bad year. the COVID-19 pandemic which remains ongoing had a major impact on sales and manufacturing this year, leading to a lot of uncertainty about the games industry. Many games were delayed, and Nintendo felt the squeeze with a console shortage. Prices for the Switch spike to as high as $500 per unit on the secondary market.
The analysts at NPD Group believe the Nintendo Switch will be able to rebound from these problems well, going on to compete nicely with the new PS5 and Xbox Series X in 2021.