On December 26, 2020, according to the sales tracking website VGChartz, the Nintendo Switch finally surpassed the 3DS, reaching an estimated 76,285,948 units sold. The 3DS, launched in 2011, has already sold 75,906,986 units.
Wikipedia’s “List of Top Selling Game Consoles” page was not updated at the time of writing, but the increase in Switch sales at the end of last year – no doubt due to Christmas shopping – would increase to be the 11th best-selling console of all time, behind the Game Boy, the Wii and the Nintendo DS family. The Switch has a long way to go to reach the top five, however – the cut is 102 million units sold.
However, with the Switch selling more than all other consoles combined last year, we could be seeing the increase in a worthy successor to the Wii’s lifetime sales (101.63 million). It is also worth noting that the 3DS has been on the market for almost ten years, and the Switch has managed to make the same number of sales in less than four years – and given the predictions that we may see a Switch Pro this year, that number can only go up.
If you’ve read all of this and you’re still hungry for more sales figures, so check out this preview of the Nintendo console’s past 20 years of sales or read about how Animal Crossing: New Horizons helped the UK video game industry to exceed £ 4 billion for the first time. If that still not enough, you can be beyond our help.
Do you think Nintendo Switch will enter the sacred halls of the best-selling consoles of all time? How long do you think it will take to reach the coveted 100 million sales? Give us your opinion in the comments below.