2021 saw Nintendo sell 5.3 million Switch units in Japan, outselling all other consoles combined. Additionally, the PS5 sold ten times more consoles than the Xbox Series X/S.
This information is according to data released by Famitsu and reported by GamesIndustry.biz. The 5 million sold Nintendo Switch consoles in Japan occurred between December 28, 2020, to December 19, 2021, and combines the sales of the standard Nintendo Switch, the Switch Lite, and the OLED model.
This figure is an impressive feat for Nintendo. Especially considering the PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X/S, and the Nintendo 3DS sold a total of 1.1 million consoles. That means the Nintendo Switch sold five more units than all of those combined.
To be fair, Sony’s new PS5 didn’t do too bad. Of that 1.1 million consoles sold in Japan, 942,798 were PlayStation 5’s. That’s ten times more than the Xbox Series X/S, which sold a total of 95,598 units in 2021. Unfortunately for Microsoft, even the PS4 out-sold the newest Xbox by selling 103,786 consoles last year. The Nintendo DS, unsurprisingly, sold 23,224 units.
The Nintendo Switch, originally released March 3, 2017, and 5 years on, doesn’t appear to be waning in popularity. 5.3 Nintendo Switch’s sold in 2021 is about on par for the 5.1 which were sold in Japan the previous year from December 30, 2019, to December 6, 2020.
Nintendo has done well to keep the console relevant with hit games such as Animal Crossing: New Horizons and Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl. Nintendo Switch games accounted for the entire top ten list of games sold in Japan last year. Monster Hunter Rise, Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl, and Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury were the first, second, and fourth best-selling games in Japan in 2021.
The company which brought fans the beloved Mario has shown no signs of stopping. Several big Nintendo Switch titles are slated for 2022. Games such as Pokémon Legends Arceus, Zelda Breath of the Wild 2, Splatoon 3, and many more will be coming to the Switch this year.