Nintendo Financial Earnings Show Continued Switch Success

Nintendo has released their latest financial earnings for the nine-month period ending December 31st, 2020, and the results show that the company is continuing to thrive in regards to both their hardware and their software. As of December 31st, 2020, the Nintendo Switch has sold 79.87 million units, passing the 3DS at 75.94 million units. For reference, the Switch had a lifetime sales number of 49.79 million units by the end of 2019. This large increase in units sold just highlights how popular Nintendo’s console has been and continues to be as the global pandemic rages on.

If it continues to sell this well, it’s not too far-fetched to imagine the Switch surpassing the Wii to become Nintendo’s best-selling console in another year or two. The Wii sold 101.63 million units over the course of its lifetime, so it’s certainly possible. The bigger accomplishment will be if it manages to surpass the 118.69 million units of the Game Boy and Game Boy Color, and then the colossal 154.02 million units of the Nintendo DS. If it can do that, then it just might be able to overtake the 155 million units that the PlayStation 2 sold and become the best-selling console of all time.

As for software sales, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe remains at the top with 33.41 million units sold. It may not hold the top spot for much longer though since Animal Crossing: New Horizons is just behind it at 31.18 million units sold, with 19.41 million of those sales coming during the April-December period. Continuing on down the top ten software sales, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate comes in third with 22.85 million units sold, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is fourth with 21.45 million units sold, and Pokémon Sword and Shield is fifth with 20.35 million units sold.

Other Nintendo titles released during the nine-month April-December fiscal year have also seen success. Super Mario 3D-All Stars has sold 8.32 million units, Paper Mario: The Origami King has sold 3.05 million units, and Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity has sold 2.84 million units.

All in all, these financial results paint a bright picture for Nintendo. The company is thriving thanks to the continued success of the Switch, and the surprise runaway success of Animal Crossing: New Horizons. Things are sure to continue getting better for them with upcoming releases like Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury, Bravely Default II, and the highly anticipated sequel to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.