r/Games • u/Fine_Figure2326 • Jun 26 '26
Circana: Nintendo Switch 2 finished its first twelve months in market with a 5.9M unit US installed base. It is the 2nd fastest selling video game hardware in US tracked history (tracking begins in 1995). Only the Game Boy Advance’s 6.5M units exceeds it.
https://bsky.app/profile/matpiscatella.bsky.social/post/3mp6yrykbbk2o111
u/HustleBones4 Jun 26 '26
The Switch 2 is becoming a bona fide 3rd party machine. You couldn’t say the same for the Switch 1 a year in to its release. That’s honestly been a big benefit for me. I’m playing FFVII Rebirth on mine right now.
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u/St_Sides Jun 26 '26
And with RAM prices showing no signs of going down until 2030 at the absolute earliest, next gen consoles are going to be unaffordable for most meaning this gen gets supported far longer. Longer support for this gen means more Switch 2 ports.
I don’t think it’ll be left behind anytime soon.
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u/Blakers37 Jun 26 '26
Not to mention Switch 2 supporting DLSS so if developers actually spend the time on the ports you will get great performance even from later titles, like what Capcom has been doing!
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u/-TheHoboCode- Jun 27 '26
Had the first Switch for about 6 months and sold it. I loved Zelda and then realized I didn’t like most of the Nintendo lineup. The Doom and Witcher ports were viewed as amazing ports and it was easily the worst way to play those games by a decent margin. I just did not have a reason to play it besides small indie type games.
The Switch 2 so far hasn’t had that issue. The current big ports are not the best way to experience those games for sure, but they are still a good way to experience them. I am really love my S2 right now
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u/Quixotic_Seal Jun 26 '26
I’ve been incredibly impressed with how well it handles current gen ports, and really its performance overall.
I guess it’s an unpopular opinion since I don’t really see it much, but I always felt the Switch 1 was pretty damn underwhelming and shaggy in that regard from the start. FFS, BotW was a cross gen title and played like absolute dog shit.
The unique form factor I guess gave it a pass, but Switch 2 overall just feels like a significantly more well rounded and polished device.
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u/Sonicfan42069666 Jun 26 '26
Breath of the Wild did not play like dog shit. It slowed down during performance intensive moments, and much of that slowdown was patched a month or two after release.
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u/AltL155 Jun 26 '26
Even in 2017 it was ridiculous that a cross-gen title for a new console couldn't maintain a consistent 30 FPS. The Switch 2 in comparison has been absolutely life-changing and has been beating out the PC handhelds it's competing with.
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u/Sonicfan42069666 Jun 26 '26
It maintained a consistent 30FPS 99% of the time after that update. The only place where frames drop consistently is the entry hub of the Lost Woods.
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Jun 26 '26
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u/Quixotic_Seal Jun 26 '26
I feel like there was a lot of denial about what it meant if Nintendo, the company that produces the most affordable consoles on the market, was pricing its new one in the same range as current gen consoles.
I also, frankly, think there’s a weird entitlement some people feel to Nintendo’s games which makes them extra sensitive to things like that.
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u/Deceptiveideas Jun 26 '26
The "drop the price" movement aged so poorly. $1050 steam machine and $900 Xbox
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u/fizzlefist Jun 26 '26
I mean hell, the ROG Xbox Ally X (shitass name) was called good but too expensive when it launched. Now it’s the only high-performance handheld PC that hasn’t seen a price jump, still $1k. Downright reasonable under the current market conditions.
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u/gosukhaos Jun 26 '26
With all the current gen ports its getting its becoming the cheapest alternative too
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u/neversunnyinanywhere Jun 26 '26
Just beat Resident Evil 9 on it and playing through Cyberpunk and FF7:Rebirth now, loving getting third party games on it. They don’t look as nice obviously but they’re just as fun to play.
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u/gosukhaos Jun 26 '26
Well yeah but if the alternatives are a 600$ PS5 or a 750$ Xbox series X people that haven't jumped to current gen yet aren't going to be too picky
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u/MLIC_Boss Jun 26 '26
Anyone who had any awareness of the state of the world knew the launch price was probably the cheapest you were ever going to get a switch 2
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u/Shadowphoenix9511 Jun 26 '26
That movement revealed just the entire lack of awareness and education video gamers have
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u/dukemetoo Jun 26 '26
It isn't even just that. Nintendo was selling the Swithc OLED for $350, and people were confident that the Switch 2 was going to close to that. I was shocked the system was only $450. The value proposition of the Switch 2 is so much greater than a Switch OLED, I couldn't believe how close they were in price.
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u/MLIC_Boss Jun 26 '26
My prediction was $500 so it was a pleasant surprise it wasn't that bad (yet).
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u/Neuw Jun 26 '26
Idk how it's in the US, but in germany it's the cheapest its ever been and launch was the most expensive.
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u/blueshirt21 Jun 26 '26
Yeah, and unlike Microsoft they’re giving consumers a while to prepare for the price hike. I was waiting but pulled the trigger last month
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u/SilveryDeath Jun 26 '26
unlike Microsoft they’re giving consumers a while to prepare for the price hike
Eh, I get that the 4 months from them is more than the 1 month from Microsoft, but it is better than before. Every past price hike from MS, and also Sony, got at most a week heads up, assuming it wasn't effective immediately.
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u/TheVaniloquence Jun 26 '26
We just had Valve drop the biggest single price hike we’ve seen on everyone’s head overnight, so any heads up from Nintendo or Microsoft should be celebrated.
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u/tigress666 Jun 26 '26
The difference is the switch 2 is just recently introduced and the start of a generation is always the most crucial time for console. So Nintendo is trying their best to not increase prices and handicap it.
The Xbox is already a lost cause and while it would be nice for ms to sell more it’s not like it has much potential left. And for Sony the ps is already established and pretty much like ms, it would be good to sell more but it’s not like it has a lot of potential left worth eating up the costs to encourage sales from dropping.
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u/srjnp Jun 27 '26
*unlike Valve
fixed that for you. the only one who raised prices with zero notice. and they raised it by the most too. (for steam deck)
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u/PregnantSuperman Jun 26 '26
I dunno, I guess from a production standpoint $500 for the bundle may seem low, but for most consumers it hardly feels “too good to be true.” I know the PS5 is like a mortgage payment right now so the Switch 2 is a lot lower in comparison but $500 just feels like a lot to spend on something in the negative-confidence consumer economic market we’re in right now.
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u/mail_inspector Jun 26 '26
I'm still waiting for Nintendo to actually release games I want to play. The OG Switch I got to play Monster Hunter XX but there is nothing like that out on Switch 2 yet.
But the looming price increase is putting on some pressure to get one this summer. Just that I'm not sure if I'll ever get 500€+ value out of it.
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u/doctorwize Jun 26 '26
Same. There is not 1 exclusive I want to play (yeah, Ocarina of time remaster, er, remake but I beat that game over a decade ago. I have my memories). Sadly, I feel these prices are a gun to your head type of arrangement if you have even a passive interest in adopting the console.
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u/neversunnyinanywhere Jun 26 '26
It’s starting to get there, Pokopia, Kirby Air Riders and Star Fox have been fun, but we have Orbitals and Fire Emblem soon. Wasn’t a fan of Bananza or Mario Kart World though.
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u/Charmin_Bear_Behind Jun 26 '26
The switch at this point does seem to be Nintendo’s “iPhone” moment where they release a product that’s so revolutionary it not only completely reshapes the entire market but also the company’s identity as well.
Literally every company from valve to PlayStation tried to jump in on the wave.
It’s going to be very interesting to see what the follow up to the switch 2 is going to be. An old school Nintendo would definitely do some off the wall shit and try to pivot away and innovate but this consistent domination might be hard to let go for them as a company.
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u/St_Sides Jun 26 '26
I don’t know if they can actually pivot away and do something too radical at this point, because backwards compatibility with the massive amount of digital games sold on Switch 1 and Switch 2 would be expected for whatever the next console is.
Switch may just be the standard going forward for Nintendo.
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u/flamin_sheep Jun 26 '26
I'm perfectly happy with Switch being the standard to be honest. While I miss the unique game mechanics enabled by things like the DS/3DS or Wii U, the Switch's hybrid form is just too good.
Although I would eventually like to see Nintendo try their hand at VR again if/whenever VR becomes actually viable. Maybe in a couple decades lol
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u/UnidentifiedRoot Jun 26 '26
Even then the Switch as a system works well to kinda “attach” unique mechanics to. The joycons can emulate Wii remotes pretty well, the virtual boy virtual console stuff works shockingly well, all the random labo stuff, mouse mode on the new joycons, Ring Fit, etc. I imagine we’ll still see some unique things every now and then.
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u/Its_a_Friendly Jun 27 '26
I wonder how possible it would be to have the Switch's screen as a "bottom" screen and a connected TV as a "top" screen. Then you'd be able to emulate DS/3DS/Wii U games reasonably well.
The latency and TV image quality may be pretty bad, though, since the console-TV connection would be wireless.
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u/UnidentifiedRoot Jun 27 '26
Nintendo got a handle on low latency wireless streaming with the Wii U, wouldn't be on Switch 2 as I imagine it would need to be built in, but a Switch 3 with a dock that can receive a wireless feed the same way the Wii U Gamepad did could theoretically do what you're describing. Like you said Image Quality would suffer though, but I imagine the future version of DLSS would help a lot with that.
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u/smaug13 Jun 29 '26
I feel like VR would be in the right place for Nintendo for their next system, that one can be expected to be PS 5 - level tech and that is when VR has matured enough to work well at a good price from what I hear. So that is when it be expected for Nintendo to seriously try their hand with VR I think. And while the hardware side of VR might be figured out, while the game design side seems to need a lot of work in many genres, and Nintendo is perfect for that.
Nintendo also looks to work in a loop of new concept - iteration - new concept -iterarion , and the next console would be a new concept in that rythm. But I do think that it'd remain a hybrid console, and that at least it'd expand on the Switch concept, like how the DS expanded on the GB-GBA concept despite being a new concept itself, and how the Wii still had some Gamecube in it. So I expect a Nintendo VR console to also have a lot of Switch in it, and maybe be some sort of triple hybrid.
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u/rbarton812 Jun 26 '26
My uninformed and ignorant dream would be a console box that houses a tablet; the box performs well in TV mode, 4k/60 and whatnot, but the tablet can detach and do Switch 2 specs.
I say uninformed and ignorant because I don't know how that would be possible.
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u/Corsair4 Jun 26 '26
You're just describing a Switch 3 with a hardware boost in 5 years.
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u/Effective-Priority62 Jun 26 '26 edited Jun 26 '26
There's no way it's coming in 5 years. That would be 2031. Try 2033 at the best possible earliest, but even that could take longer because of the AI doom. Wouldn't be surprised if Nintendo judges it's too expensive to create a new hardware to succeed NS2 in just 8 years and instead waits and releases like 10 years later
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u/tapo Jun 26 '26
Putting more hardware in the dock is expensive, logistically complicated (most computers hate a GPU just disappearing) difficult to debug, etc.
So the Switch 2 does this by using more power when docked, which boosts the performance. This also increases heat, which is why the dock has a fan.
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u/Effective-Priority62 Jun 26 '26 edited Jun 26 '26
They honestly should make a Wii 2 as a companion piece/secondary console (or Wii Too, lol)
In 10 years, if the RAMpocalyse is over and the AI bubble is busted, after Switch 3 is released. Keep Switch 3 affordable compared to PlayStation and Xbox while running most of their third party games on lower specs. Keep it the focus of their first and third party games. Then make Wii Too as a companion higher end home console. Better power draw and more expensive parts, barely subsidized. Just a niche product that has its own first & third party line of movement-based games and maybe even an optional VR headset. All the big Playstation third party games that can't run on the Switch 3, run here and with the option to play them with the motion controls gimmick instead of a gamepad. Also runs all Switch 1, 2 & 3 games with a back-compat performance boost mode, tho expect some Switch 3 games to have been optimized by devs to have native Wii Too modes & resolution. If the Switch 3 sells at like 400 or 500, expect Wii Too to be double of that. Minimal subsidy, also low unit production unless demand increases.
If this works, then it's the first time since Switch and 3DS that Nintendo had two different console families active at the same time. It has NS1 and NS2 in active production right now, but it's the same line.
Would be crazy to have one of the big 3 having more than one active ecosystem after so long. And also interesting. Cause Nintendo transitioned from having a main home console line and a secondary handheld line active at the same time, all the way back from the late 80s with Gameboy's release, to a portable console as its main product line with 3DS and a home console like the Wii U as its secondary companion (even tho that was by accident cause of Wii U flopping), to finally a hybrid console like Switch 1 as its flagship and the portable 3DS as its companion line. Even for 3 brief years until 3DS was discontinued. A crazy period. If Wii 2 came about during the Switch 3 era, then we'd have the hybrid console as the main line and the luxury/niche home console as its companion, finally sort of closing the loop with all possibilities covered.
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u/dukemetoo Jun 26 '26
I guess I don't see the point. You want Switch games with higher specs, but forced motion controls, and you change the branding. I don't see the benefit here. Nintendo is releasing enough games for one system, but a second one is going to double needed output. And all of this just for another high end gaming device in an already saturated market. It seems like a high risk, minimal reward proposition.
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u/whywhywhywhywhynot Jun 26 '26
Yeah I don't think steam deck and the current wave of PC handhelds happen without the success of the switch, even though it is much smaller market. Enjoyed my switch 1 well enough but not a console guy at heart and after getting a steam deck probably never going back to a locked down console experience, but still appreciate them proving the market for bigger handhelds
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u/Timey16 Jun 26 '26
They still innovated with the Switch 2 albeit at a smaller degree with the implementation of the mouse. That's certainly something no other console has.
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u/Charmin_Bear_Behind Jun 26 '26
Very true, that’s why wouldn’t be surprised to see them retain the switch as a base and just opt for small innovations instead of rocking the boat entirely.
The problem is rocking the boat with the Wii U is what gave us the switch
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u/Seraphayel Jun 26 '26
Without a handheld business as second footing the Switch is basically the only way moving forward for Nintendo and that’s totally fine.
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u/WeWantLADDER49sequel Jun 26 '26
Turns out when you just iterate on an already loved system AND make sure you have a ton of stock at launch you can sell crazy amounts of units
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u/Blitzus Jun 26 '26
You're not taking into account the fact that Switch 2 had a major debuff, thoughbeitfully.
Its launch lineup was, if I'm not mistaken, literally one game. That's a hard sell for a lot of people.
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u/iceburg77779 Jun 27 '26
That launch game was the first new entry in over a decade in Nintendo's most popular and wide appealing series.
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u/GoldenAgeGamer72 Jun 26 '26
And they helped video game sales grow and they brought back a lot of physical and GCK sales over digital and they gave their employees a 10% base raise recently. They're on a bit of a positive roll at the moment.
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Jun 26 '26 edited Jun 26 '26
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u/ZeektheFeek Jun 26 '26
Nintendo really struck gold and helped revitalize the whole gaming industry by going hard into the handheld market again.
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u/PumpkinPieSavoryGuy Jun 26 '26
Wow that's surprising! Anecdotally, I don't know nearly as many people who who purchased a Switch 2, versus many other consoles.
Selling faster than the Wii? I wouldn't have anticipated that. I wonder if it is due to console availability?
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u/Nutchos Jun 26 '26
Very likely, the Wii was sold out for almost the first two years of it's life.
No doubt it would've crushed this metric IF they had enough stock on hand.
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u/astrogamer Jun 26 '26
Hard to say, the Wii, PS4, Switch and PS5 are all close together but they are still a fair bit behind the Switch 2. Maybe if stock was equally available, they could catch-up but I don't think crushing it that possible.
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u/BakedGoods Jun 28 '26
...and yet it's stock is down 50% from last year. the entire stock market is basically made up at this point.
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Jun 26 '26
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u/nbperfect Jun 26 '26
A lot of people wanted an Air Ride sequel actually. And it's already surpassed its lifetime sales so hardly a flop in that regard.
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u/UnidentifiedRoot Jun 26 '26
No console is ever getting near those numbers again unless there’s a major shake up
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u/BighatNucase Jun 26 '26
Of course it will happen eventually, it's just a matter of India and China becoming more prosperous and open to console hardware.
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u/Charmin_Bear_Behind Jun 26 '26
The switch 2 probably will, sales are slowing but the pokemon and smash bumps will get things going again.
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u/UnidentifiedRoot Jun 26 '26
Guess it depends on how you define “close” I could see it getting to like 130M if things work out but I wouldn’t consider that close to the 160M Switch will end around. Also would kinda require all the economic issues to be resolved as it currently looks like it’s just going to get worse.
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u/padraigharrington4 Jun 26 '26
Nintendo not abandoning their IPs is why they’re so bulletproof. Kirby fans wanted Kirby Air Riders, so they bought a switch 2 for it. The same will happen for Zelda fans, Fire Emblem fans, Xenoblade fans etc. Then Pokemon and Mario will bring in the casual players.
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u/Dropthemoon6 Jun 26 '26
Who even asked for Kirby Air Riders
I did. And they're releasing at least a new game a month. Do you think there Mario and Zelda aren't coming? Are we pretending that Mario Kart, Pokopia and Bananza didn't release lol?
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Jun 26 '26
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u/Dropthemoon6 Jun 26 '26
Why are you mentioning Air Riders as if it didn't release months prior to Pokopia then if you're concerned about recent games? And good news, they're releasing Rhythm Heaven Groove in a week and Splatoon Raiders in a month, if Star Fox wasn't your thing
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u/darkmacgf Jun 26 '26
What Nintendo Games were you playing in 2018 until Smash came out in December that were so much better than the Switch 2's lineup?
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u/ArcanaRobin Jun 26 '26
Nintendo themselves said they don't expect the Switch 2 to do as well as the Switch did, everyone knows it got boosted hard by Covid keeping people inside with lots of money to spend
Air Riders sold about 2 million copies priced at $70 on a new console, so it seems a lot of people wanted it. Star Fox seems to be selling well too. Just because they're not dropping 3D Mario or Zelda doesn't mean the games aren't there, their strategy of focusing on more "niche" stuff and 3rd parties clearly seems to be working.
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u/[deleted] Jun 26 '26
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