The Switch overtakes DS to become Nintendo's best-selling console ever

The Switch 2 is now the second best-selling console of all time

by · TechSpot

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In brief: Nintendo has a new best-selling console ever. The Nintendo Switch has overtaken the DS handheld after reaching 155.37 million unit sales since its 2017 launch. The new figure makes the Switch the second best-selling console of all time behind the Sony PlayStation 2.

Nintendo's latest financial results revealed that the original Switch hybrid sold 1.36 million units in the third quarter of fiscal year 2026 that ended on December 31, 2025.

The Switch's 155.37 million lifetime sales put it ahead of the 154.02 million units that the 2004 Nintendo DS sold across its lifetime.

Nintendo says it expects the Switch to sell another 750,000 units during the remainder of the current fiscal year, which ends on April 1. That would still leave it around four million units short of the best-selling console ever, the PlayStation 2, which sold 160 million units across its 13-year life.

The Switch sold especially well during the pandemic years, recording 50 million sales across two years despite widespread shortages. The Americas have remained the region with the most sales since launch.

The Switch's successor is also performing well. The Switch 2 sold 7.01 million units during the holiday quarter, beating the previous quarter's 4.54 million units by a considerable margin.

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The latest figures mean the Switch 2 has now sold 17.3 million units as of December 31. That's a hugely impressive number given that it only launched on June 5, 2025. It means Nintendo's latest console has now sold more units in less than a year than the Wii U managed across its entire lifetime (13.7 million units). Nintendo forecast that the Switch 2's lifetime sales will have exceeded 19 million units by the end of the fiscal year.

Nintendo also revealed that 1.5 billion Nintendo Switch video games have been sold to date. The best-selling first-party Switch 1 games are Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (70 million), Animal Crossing: New Horizons (49 million), and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (37 million).

On the Switch 2, Mario Kart World has now sold 14.03 million units, which includes bundle sales, Donkey Kong: Bananza has sold 4.25 million units, and Kirby Air Riders has sold 1.76 million units.

The only decrease Nintendo saw during the quarter was its IP sales, down 10% year-over-year as movie revenue declined. But the Super Mario Galaxy releases in April, which will push up the next fiscal year's IP results.