Nintendo Raises Hardware Forecast as Switch 2 Sales Hit 10.36 Million, Continuing Streak as the Biggest Console Launch of All Time

Nintendo Switch 2 has sold an astonishing 10.36 million units in six months, a record-breaking amount that sees the platform continue its run as the biggest console launch ever.

In its latest financial results, published this morning, Nintendo raised its hardware forecast for the year in response to the Switch 2’s spectacular performance. It now expects to shift 19 million units of its new console before the end of March 2026.

To put Switch 2’s success into perspective, Nintendo has doubled the launch sales of Switch 1 (which sold 4.7 million units in its first six months back in 2017) and is also well ahead of the PlayStation 5’s own impressive arrival (which sold 7.8 million units back in November 2020, though was limited by stock availability).

Mario Kart World, the Switch 2’s flagship launch game, has now sold 9.57 million copies, with 8.1 million units of that total from the console’s bundle. (So yes, more than a million people paid $80 to buy it separately.)

Nintendo’s second biggest Switch 2 title, Donkey Kong Bananza, has notched up 3.49 million sales since its July debut. Super Mario Party Jamboree — Nintendo Switch 2 Edition, meanwhile, has sold 1.16 million copies.

There’s no word in today’s data on Pokémon Legends Z-A, which launched too recently to be included. However, we already know the new Pokémon adventure has sold 5.8 million copies in a week — enough to ensure it will certainly be one of the console’s best sellers in Nintendo’s next results.

Interestingly, sales of Switch 1 game Mario Kart 8 Deluxe continue to remain strong — with another 1.37 million units sold over the last six months (seriously, who doesn’t own a copy by now?).

The original Nintendo Switch now stands at 154 million units, meanwhile, meaning it is just 10,000 sales away from overtaking Nintendo’s current best-selling device — the Nintendo DS. But can the aging console shift another six million units to finally dethrone the best-selling console ever, PlayStation 2? Nintendo says it expects Switch 1 to have reached a lifetime total of 156 million by the end of March 2026, so it will come close.

Tom Phillips is IGN’s News Editor. You can reach Tom at [email protected] or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social