As one of the oldest and most influential companies in the gaming industry, how much hardware and software has Nintendo sold over the years?
The company announced today that its cumulative global console sales have exceeded 870 million units, and its total game software sales have exceeded 6 billion copies.Although the data is not broken down by platform, Nintendo's official investor relations website shows that the original Switch alone set an astonishing record of 1.544 billion game sales and 154 million console sales.The Switch only needs to sell 10,000 more units to surpass the DS (154.02 million units) and become Nintendo's best-selling game platform in history.
860 million consoles sold means that theoretically one in nine people in the world owns a Nintendo device - an achievement that spans several generations of players and is a unique milestone in the gaming industry.Over the course of more than 40 years of development, Nintendo has launched many classic platforms: the handheld NDS still ranks first with sales of 154.02 million units, while the Switch, which has focused on hybrid experience in recent years, is closely behind with 153.1 million units, and is expected to surpass it within a few months.The legendary Game Boy is firmly in third place with sales of 118.69 million units.
The remaining top five console sales are Wii (101.63 million units) and Game Boy Advance (81.51 million units).In terms of game software sales, Switch leads the pack with an absolute advantage, followed by DS (948.76 million copies), Wii (921.85 million copies), Game Boy (501.11 million copies), NES (500.01 million copies) and 3DS (392.29 million copies).
Switch 2, which will be released in June 2025, has shown strong momentum, with sales exceeding 10 million units within four months of its launch, and corresponding game sales reaching 20.6 million copies.Nintendo recently significantly raised its sales forecast for Switch 2 for this fiscal year from 15 million units to 19 million units, an increase of over 26%.
In the announcement, Nintendo emphasized its original focus over the past 42 years: it has always been committed to the research and development, production and sales of game consoles and related software.This ultimate pursuit of gaming experience, coupled with the support of top IPs such as "Mario", "Zelda" and "Pokémon", has enabled the Japanese giant to maintain its market leadership and gather billions of players around the world.
