Another day, another milestone broken by the Nintendo Switch. According to the latest numbers from Famitsu, the Nintendo Switch sold 52,000 units in Japan this past week, which was enough to push it past the 4 million mark in its home country.
This means the Switch has now surpassed the total Japanese sales of the GameCube, which only sold 4.04 million units in the country over its six-year lifespan (the ol’ purple box sold around 22 million units worldwide). Next up on the Switch’s hitlist is the Nintendo 64, which only sold 5.54 million units in Japan. At the rate we’re going, expect that record to fall early this summer.
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The Switch’s sales place it just behind The Wii, which hit the 4 million mark in Japan after 54 weeks (it took the Switch 56 weeks). Meanwhile, the Switch continues to trend ahead of the PS2, which sold only 3.6 million copies in its first 56 weeks. In other words, the Switch is in pretty good company – the Wii sold a total of 12.75 million units in Japan, and the PS2 sold 23.2 million.
The Japanese gaming market may be smaller than those in North America or Europe, but it still matters, as a lot of Japanese publishers continue to base decisions on how consoles sell in their home country. The Switch’s success across the Pacific means we’ll likely see strong support from companies like Square Enix, Capcom, Sega, Bandai Namco, and Atlus.
As of January 31, the Nintendo Switch has sold 14.87 million units worldwide, which is more than the Wii U sold during its entire lifespan. Nintendo plans to sell an additional 20 million Switches during their current fiscal year, which ends March 31, 2019. That’s a crazy ambitious target, but not out of the realm of possibility with the right big-name exclusives (feel free to give us a Pokémon Switch release date any time, Nintendo).
Where do you stand on the Nintendo Switch? Already have yours? Waiting for more games? Or is the concept just not for you?
