Switch is now the best-selling system of all time in Japan

Nintendo Switch is now the best-selling video game system of all time in Japan.

Following the release of Nintendo’s financial results, which put the console at 33.34 million lifetime sales in the region, the Switch has now overtaken the Nintendo DS family of handhelds (32.98 million) as Nintendo‘s best-selling system in its homeland.

Both the Nintendo Switch and Nintendo DS sales figures incorporate all variations of the systems – the Switch, Switch Lite and Switch Oled make up Switch sales, while the DS, DS Lite, DSi and DSi XL make up DS sales.

While it’s now Nintendo’s top-selling system in Japan, the Switch will still have to sell around 15 million more units to overtake the Nintendo DS as its best-selling machine worldwide (154 million). In doing so, it would also be within touching distance of the PlayStation 2‘s global record of 155 million.

Nintendo forecasts that it will reach 141.12 million Switch units sold by March of this year. While Switch sales have slowed as the console comes to the traditional end of its lifecycle, it’s still entirely possible that the console will eventually end up as its best-selling ever.

Further reading

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VGC reported last summer that development kits for ‘Switch 2’ were in the hands of key partner studios, with a launch expected in late 2024.

Dr. Serkan Toto, CEO of Tokyo-based game industry consultancy Kantan Games, recently predicted that the new console could launch at $400 – $100 higher than the Switch launched at – and there’s a chance its games could adopt the $70 pricing of PS5 and Xbox Series X.

According to the industry consultant, Nintendo’s next console will again have portable functionality, as VGC reported last year.