Nintendo Switch is the second-bestselling game console ever, behind only the PS2 - Ars Technica

that’s a lot of joy-cons Nintendo Switch is the second-bestselling game console ever, behind only the PS2 Switch 2 has already beaten the Wii U and is on its way to overtaking GameCube. 82 The Nintendo Switch (OLED model). Credit: Nintendo The Nintendo Switch (OLED model). Credit: Nintendo Text settings Story text Size Small Standard Large Width * Standard Wide Links Standard Orange * Subscribers only   Learn more Minimize to nav Although it was finally replaced last year by the new Switch 2, the orginal switch isn’t done just yet. Many recent Switch games (and a handful of major updates, like the one for Animal Crossing) have been released in both Switch and Switch 2 editions, and Nintendo continues to sell all editions of the original console as entry-level systems for those who can’t pay $450 for a Switch 2. The 9-year-old Switch’s continued availability has helped it clear a milestone, according to the company’s third-quarter financial results (PDF). As of December 31, 2025, Nintendo says the Switch “has reached the highest sales volume of any Nintendo hardware” with a total of 155.37 million units sold, surpassing the original DS’s lifetime total of 154.02 million units. The console has sold 3.25 million units in Nintendo’s fiscal 2026 so far, including 1.36 million units over the holidays. Those consoles have sold despite price hikes that Nintendo introduced in August of 2025, citing “market conditions.” That makes the Switch the second-bestselling game console of all time, just three years after it became the third-bestselling game console of all time. The only frontier left for the Switch to conquer is Sony’s PlayStation 2, which Sony says sold “over 160 million units” over its long life. At its current sales rate (Nintendo predicts it will sell roughly 750,000 Switches in the next quarter), it would take the Switch another couple of years to cross that line, but those numbers are likely to taper off as we get deeper into the Switch 2 era. As for the Switch 2, it’s off to a strong start. It had sold 15 million units by the end of December, making it the “fastest-selling dedicated video game platform released by Nintendo to date,” and it had sold a total of 17.37 million units by the end of the quarter. That’s impressive for a console that hasn’t even been out for a year yet, and it already puts the Switch 2 ahead of the Wii U’s lifetime sales (13.56 million) and not far off from the GameCube’s (21.74 million units). The huge Switch install base means that the older console is still driving most of Nintendo’s software sales. Nintendo says it sold 47.37 million Switch games in the third quarter of its fiscal 2026, compared to 17.31 million Switch 2 games. Nintendo’s bestselling game for the year so far is Mario Kart World with 14.03 million units—doubtlessly helped along by its status as a pack-in game for many Switch 2 consoles—but Pokémon Legends Z-A (12.3 million units across Switch and Switch 2 editions) and Donkey Kong Bananza (4.25 million units) also got shoutouts. Nintendo also recorded 129 million “annual playing users” across its consoles for 2025, a number that has been essentially flat for the last three years (Nintendo recorded 128 million active users in 2023 and 130 million in 2024).