Nintendo Switch Closing In On PS2’s Sales Record

Nintendo’s latest earnings report has arrived, and while Switch sales were down dramatically, the console is now even closer to reaching the PS2’s high watermark of an estimated 155 million units sold. Through the quarter that ended on June 30, Switch sales stand at 143.42 million units.

Nintendo sold 2.1 million Switch consoles in the past quarter, which was down significantly from the 3.91 million it sold during the same period last year. Nintendo said the downturn can be attributed to a difficult comparison. Indeed, during the same period last year, Switch sales benefitted from the launch of The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom and The Super Mario Bros. Movie.

Nintendo said sales during the same quarter last year were “extremely high” due to those factors. For this year, however, “there were no such special factors in the first quarter of this fiscal year, and with Nintendo Switch now in its eighth year since launch, unit sales of both hardware and software decreased significantly year-on-year,” Nintendo said.

Of the 2.1 million Switch consoles sold in the latest quarter, the majority (1.24 million) came from the OLED model, with the standard Switch (530,000 units) and Switch Lite (330,000 units) making up the rest.

Nintendo said it is forecasting to sell 13.5 million Switch consoles during its current fiscal year that ends on March 31, 2025. With 2.1 million sold already this fiscal year, that leaves 11.4 million to go to reach the target. If Nintendo can achieve that, then Switch sales would reach 154.4 million–just 600,000 shy of the PS2’s estimated record of 155 million.

In terms of game sales, 30.64 million games were sold for Switch in the quarter, which was down by 41.3% compared to the 52.21 million sold during the same period last year. Again, though, it’s important to note how massive Tears of the Kingdom was–Nintendo was always going to struggle to have a favorable year-over-year comparison.

Nintendo did have some new releases during the quarter, including Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door (1.76 million units) and Luigi’s Mansion 2 HD (1.19 million units), which Nintendo said had a “good start.” As of June 30, more than 1.26 billion games have been sold for Switch.

Looking ahead, Nintendo has a number of titles on the schedule, including Emio – The Smiling Man (August 20, The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom (September 26), Super Mario Party Jamboree (October 17), Mario & Luigi Brothership (November 7), and Donkey Kong Country Returns HD (January 16, 2025).

Fans are also eagerly awaiting the announcement and release of the Switch 2, or whatever Nintendo calls its next console. The system is due to be announced by April 2025.