Big Milestone in Sight for Switch, Says Nintendo President

Nintendo President Shuntaro Furukawa has boldly predicted that the Nintendo Switch will pass 20 million units sold globally by March 2019. The milestone will correspond with the end of Nintendo’s financial year.

Speaking to the Japanese publication Sankei, and translated by Nintendo Everything, Furukawa conceded that the impressive goal was “a bit high, but achievable”. He also attributed the recent success of Nintendo’s console-handheld hybrid to the explosive launch of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. Speaking on the success of the latest Smash game, Furukawa said, “The people who’ve played Smash before are coming back for this one; that accumulation of players contributed to the initial push (in sales)”.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate sold an incredible five million copies worldwide in just three days. By comparison, the previous console instalment, Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, has sold 5.34 million units worldwide since its release in 2014. Releasing on 7 December 2018, Ultimate kicked off a big holiday season for Nintendo that Furukawa spoke about by saying, “The first order of business, though, is to maximise sales during the holiday rush.”

Meanwhile, the Nintendo Switch has ridden a wave of success since its launch back in March 2017. It has already dominated Nintendo’s previous home console, the Wii U, which sold a disappointing 13.56 million units across its lifetime. Currently the best-selling game on the switch is Super Mario Odyssey which is sitting at 12.17 million copies sold.

We will have a good understanding of Furukawa’s optimism by March of this year. Until then, read about some of the games that we are hotly anticipating in 2019.