Unofficial figures point to the Nintendo Switch 2 being far more successful than expected, but Nintendo themselves are not saying anything.
Given how difficult it was to pre-order, and reports of retailers running out of stock for the midnight launch, it’s safe to assume the Nintendo Switch 2 has been a big success.
However, there’s no official confirmation of exactly how well it’s sold, at least not from Nintendo. The closest thing is a comment from Currys, which said it sold 30,000 units in the UK at launch.
That’s only one retailer in one region, but alleged sales numbers have begun floating around which, if accurate, point to the Switch 2 having the biggest launch of any video game console ever.
This is something analysts predicted over a month ago, although Nintendo itself lowballed its own sales predictions, with the goal being to sell just slightly more than the Switch 1 managed in its launch year.
Over the weekend, YouTuber Nintendo Prime claimed that the Switch 2 managed over three million units in its first 24 hours, which would be an incredible feat if accurate.
Even the PlayStation 2, the world’s best-selling console, couldn’t manage that, while the current record holder for most units sold in its first 24 hours being the PlayStation 4, at over one million.
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Nintendo Prime says he’s heard these figures from three separate sources and he’s only willing to identify one of them: Paul Gale of gaming news site Paul Gale Network.
Similarly, Pierre485 on X, who primarily shares games sales data, recently posted how the Switch 2 is doing very well in France – which has always been one of Nintendo’s biggest markets in Europe.
At over 200,000 units sold, it’s the fastest selling console ever in the country (almost double that of the PlayStation 5) and has generated over €130 million (approximately £109.5 million) in four days.
However, Pierre485 does stress that this should be treated as a rumour until official figures are shared by Nintendo of France.
There’s currently no telling when Nintendo will consider sharing its own sales data, but if things are going this well, the company is bound to brag about it sooner rather than later.
If it has gone well then it will be a relief for Nintendo that US tariffs have not had too negative an effect and that complaints about pricing, especially for Mario Kart World, have not resulted in people staying away.
Ahead of launch, Nintendo admitted US tariffs stood to harm potential profits and if it increased the price of console in response to the tariffs (which it didn’t), it would risk a drop in sales.
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