The Nintendo Switch Is Continuing to Sell Like Crazy

The Switch became the fastest-selling console in Nintendo’s history just about a month after it launched, and it’s showing no signs of slowing down. Nintendo’s flagship console was the number one selling video game hardware device in October, according to new figures from NPD Group, a market research firm that tracks U.S. video game sales.

Between the Nintendo Switch, Super Nintendo Entertainment System [SNES] Classic, and the company’s line of 3DS handheld devices, Nintendo accounted for two-thirds of all video game hardware sold in the U.S. for the second month in a row. The news also comes just after Nintendo announced that it expects to sell 14 million Switch units by the end of March 2018, which is up from their initial estimate of 10 million units.

The Switch’s position as the top-selling game console probably won’t come as much of a surprise to anyone who has tried to purchase one in recent months, particularly over the summer. Tens of thousands of fans would line up at stores in Japan during July and August for a chance to buy the console, as The Wall Street Journal previously reported.

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Nintendo is ramping up its production efforts ahead of Black Friday, which is little more than a week away on Nov. 24. But that doesn’t necessarily guarantee that the Switch will be easy to find.

“We’re going to have strong supply out there in the marketplace not only for [the] Switch, but for the SNES Classic as well,” says Reggie Fils-Aimé, president of Nintendo of America. “But the one thing we can’t fully account for is demand.”

Much of that success has been driven by the Switch’s game lineup, including titles such as The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, and Super Mario Odyssey. The recently launched Super Mario Odyssey was also the top selling game of the October, according to NPD. It was released on Oct. 27. Nintendo has also been making more of an effort to entice third-party developers into creating games for its system, which had been a challenge for the company in the past.

But Fils-Aimé maintains that the Switch’s future is not only about bringing gameplay experiences that players expect, such as its own popular franchise games and third-party titles like Doom and Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus. It’s also about gameplay that fans may not expect at all.

“Our focus has been on the creation of unique and differentiated experiences and we do that through the hardware, through the accessories, and that’s going to be something that continues well into the future,” Fils-Aimé said when asked if Nintendo has any plans to add different game modes to the Switch via new accessories. “Given that type of mentality, the hope is that we would continue to bring experiences that consumers have never even thought about. That’s our goal.”

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