Nintendo Switch has reportedly already outsold PS4 in China

Nintendo has now legitimately shipped 1 million Switch consoles in China since its official launch in late 2019, Chinese partner Tencent has announced.

The figure means that Nintendo has already surpassed Sony and Microsoft as the biggest console seller in China, according to consultancy Niko Partners (via Reuters), when grey market sales are also taken into account.

Niko estimates that around 4 million Switch consoles have been sold in total, when Tencent’s 1m is combined with illegal grey market sales.

That would make Switch’s lifetime total in China more than both PlayStation 4 (3.52m) and Xbox One (1.24m), according to Niko’s data.

Switch officially launched in China in December 2019, after local regulators approved it for sale. Foreign game firms typically need to navigate complex regulations in order to release their products in China, with approval needed from various government bodies.

Consoles are considered niche in China, though the region is still the world’s biggest for games via its significant mobile and PC market. China had previously banned foreign companies from selling game consoles for more than a decade.

To date, Nintendo’s Chinese partner Tencent has released 13 games including Super Mario Odyssey and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe.

However, some of Switch’s biggest global hits such as Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Animal Crossing: New Horizons haven’t yet been approved for release in China.

Most games published for the China Nintendo Switch are from local developers, Niko analyst Daniel Ahmad told Reuters.

“China is important to Nintendo because the country does not yet have a console culture in the same way that the U.S. or Japan does, which represents a growth opportunity for the company.”

It was reported in December 2019 that Tencent wants to develop console games using Nintendo characters in a bid to grow its business in the US and Europe.