It’ll be months before we know for sure whether or not the Nintendo Switch has staying power, but it’s certainly off to a hot start. According to market research firm SuperData, Nintendo sold 1.5 million Switch consoles worldwide within a week or so of launch, 500,000 of which were sold in the United States.
With data supplied by GfK and Famitsu, SuperData determined that Nintendo sold 360,000 consoles in Japan, 85,000 units in the UK and 110,000 in France. For some added perspective, Nintendo sold 600,000 Wii consoles in the US the first week and 400,000 Wii U consoles in the US in its first week on sale.
Nintendo has said that it hopes to sell a total of 2 million Switch consoles before the end of March, and it appears to be on track to do so. As GamesIndustry.biz points out, Nintendo’s financial reports focus on ‘sell-in’ to retailers while SuperData estimates ‘sell-through’ to consumers, so Nintendo might have hit its mark.
If you’re wondering why the Switch is having such a solid debut, look no further than the projected software sales for The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. SuperData claims that 89% of Switch owners also picked up the new Zelda, which translates to 1.34 million sales for the killer app of the Switch.
While strong launch week sales are important, they don’t ensure longevity. The Wii U had a reasonably successful launch even without a game like Breath of the Wild to sate core gamers, but went on to become the worst-selling Nintendo console of all time. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, Splatoon 2 and a healthy lineup of indie games should get Nintendo through the summer, but Super Mario Odyssey is the only must-have game currently scheduled for the holiday season. Nintendo needs a strong showing at E3 2017.
