ANALYSIS: Nintendo forecasts Switch 2 sales slowdown, as price hikes confirmed
Switch 2 sales remain well ahead of its predecessor, at nearly 20 million shipped
Nintendo says it expects Switch 2 sales to decline in the console’s second year, after it confirmed global price hikes, but that the system will still pace ahead of where the original console was during the same period of its life.
In its financial results covering the three months ended March 31, the company said it had sold a further 2.49 million Switch 2 consoles during the period, bringing the total sold-in number to 19.86 million.
This means that Switch 2 remains 5 million units ahead of where the original Switch was during the same timeframe, launch-aligned, and 6 million units ahead of where PS5 and PS4 were, continuing the console’s record-breaking sales pace.
That’s despite Switch 2 sales slowing compared to its predecessor in its most recent quarters, notably in Europe and the Americas, which has been attributed to Switch 2’s higher price and greater stock availability, which allowed many consumers to purchase a console earlier in the year. Switch 1 also had original Zelda and 3D Mario games on the market.
Nintendo indicated in its results that it expects the Switch 2 sales slowdown to continue. The company expects to sell 16.5 million Switch 2 consoles in its next business year, which runs until April 2027, down from the 19.86 million it sold in the last.
Again, Nintendo attributes this to more concentrated Switch 2 sales in its launch year in comparison to the original Switch. Notably, the company announced a global price rise for Switch 2 on Friday, making the console even more expensive compared to its predecessor.
However, even with the lower forecast in Switch 2’s second year, Nintendo noted that the console would have more sales than Switch 1 after 22 months, should it reach its target.
Commenting on the results, Dr Serkan Toto, CEO of Japanese games industry consultancy firm Kantan Games, told VGC: “We truly live in weird times. Usually, unit sales of new consoles increase in year two – whereas Nintendo now predicts them to drop 17 percent.
The Best-Selling Switch 2 Games
*As of March 31, 2026
- Mario Kart World – 14.70m
- Donkey Kong Bananza – 4.52 m
- Pokémon Legends: Z-A – 3.94m
- Pokémon Pokopia – 2.41m
- Kirby Air Riders – 1.87m
“This is of course due to the price hikes that seem to be inevitable against the backdrop of the memory crisis we are in, but Nintendo is trying to build an initial install base and now got caught on the wrong foot. Overall, I expect this fiscal year to be a relatively silent one for Nintendo.”
In its latest earnings results covering up to March 31, 2026, Nintendo Switch 2’s software sales were led by the Pokémon games Pokopia and Nintendo Switch versions of Fire Red and Leaf Green, which both sold over 4 million units. Tomodachi Life has sold 3.8 million units in two weeks, Nintendo said.
Launch game Mario Kart World reached 14.70 million units (+0.67m), and Donkey Kong Bananza, released last July, has now sold 4.52 million units (+0.27m).
The original Nintendo Switch console sold a further 0.55 million units in the quarter, bringing its lifetime total to 155.92 million. In total, Nintendo sold 3.8 million original Switch consoles during the last business year, and it forecasts a further 2 million sales in the current year. The best-selling console of all-time is the PlayStation 2 at 160 million.
Looking ahead, Switch 2’s first-party software line-up includes Yoshi and the Mysterious Book in May, Star Fox in June, and Splatoon Raiders in July. In addition, July will see the release of Rhythm Heaven Groove for the original Switch.
