It's been a little under a week since Nintendo officially launched the Switch 2, and official sales numbers for the launch period are finally in. In its first four days on the market, Nintendo's latest hybrid console sold over 3.5 million units — the most any Nintendo console has ever sold at launch. In fact, while Nintendo isn't saying it, analysts have indicated this is the biggest console launch in general.
I've spent a day with my Nintendo Switch 2, and it's a bigger upgrade than I expected
Nintendo's new generation seems to be a homerun
A stellar start
Nintendo shared the sales numbers late on Tuesday, including sales data from June 5th through the 9th, which includes preorders. At 3.5 million units, the Nintendo Switch 2 has eclipsed the launch sales of the PlayStation 5, which had sold 3.4 million units in its first four weeks on the market, and about 4.5 million after seven weeks. Notably, though, the PlayStation 5 did face significant supply constraints at launch.
To put it into a different perspective in the realm of gaming handhelds, a February report from The Verge indicated that the Steam Deck had sold at least 3.7 million units — but likely over 4 million — in its first three years on the market. That also includes the Steam Deck OLED. Evidently, the market for dedicated traditional consoles still exists, and the excitement around the Switch 2 seemingly wasn't just an internet phenomenon.
That being said, it's worth considering that many fans ordered more than one system during the preorder phase due to fears of orders not being shipped. Sales in the coming weeks will be much slower as secondhand units enter the market. Updated numbers from Nintendo will be shared in early August, when the company publishes its quarterly earnings report for the period ending on June 30th, providing a better look at the sales momentum post-launch.
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The numbers aren't that surprising
While the sales figures are certainly impressive, they're not entirely surprising. The Nintendo Switch is the third-best-selling console of all time, and is on track to surpass the Nintendo DS in lifetime sales. Fans have been clamoring for a more powerful version of the Switch concept for years, which is part of what spurred the PC handheld market in the first place.
The Nintendo Switch 2 features nearly complete backwards compatibility with Nintendo Switch games, including performance improvements for many of them. While some titles received dedicated patches to improve performance (with Splatoon 3 joining the fray later this week), some games have naturally improved simply by running on the new system without any extra work. Additionally, the console launched alongside Mario Kart World, a sequel to an 11-year-old game that has become the best-selling title on the Nintendo Switch with over 60 million units sold.
Nintendo has a full slate of games for the first year on the market, too. Following launch, Donkey Kong Bananza will debut on July 17th, with more titles including Drag x Drive, Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment, and Kirby Air Riders planned for the coming months, in addition to Switch 2 Editions of Metroid Prime 4 Beyond and Pokémon Legends Z-A. Earlier this week, Splatoon Raiders was also announced, albeit without a release date as of now.
These are the Switch 2 games I'm playing on day one
Here's what I booted up on my Switch 2 on launch day.