In the past few months, we saw how the Nintendo Switch, got closer and closer to outselling its predecessor, the Wii U. Although Nintendo has not released an updated figure for hardware sales of the Wii U, we can safely say that the Switch has finally outsold its older brother.
During a nine month period ending in December 2017, the Switch has sold over 12.3 million units worldwide. Given that it already sold 2.73 million during its launch month, it gives us a total hardware sales of 14.87 million units sold.
The Wii U on the other hand, which was first released 6 years ago, was only able to sell a low number of 13.56 million as of October of 2017. Even though the sales figures for the Wii U has not been updated yet, it is unlikely that it sold a significant number of units in November and December. This means that in a span of nine months, the Switch was able to surpass the Wii U’s lifetime sales.
Given the Switch’s popularity, its sales are now not that far from its even older brother, the Gamecube, which sold 21.74 million in its lifetime. However, the Switch is still far off from surpassing the sales of the Wii, which reached around a whopping 101.63 million units sold globally. I guess a console that is reportedly owned by the Queen herself, gold plated and all of course, will be a tough act to follow.
Looking ahead, Nintendo has already lined up some exciting releases for the Nintendo Switch this year. First up is the highly anticipated Bayonetta 2, which will launch this February. In the recent Nintendo Direct Mini a few weeks ago, Nintendo has also revealed the future releases of Kirby Star Allies coming this March, Hyrule Warriors Definitive Version, which will launch this spring, and Dark Souls Remastered, coming this May. You can check out the full line up of upcoming Switch games announced in the Direct Mini here. Lastly, don’t forget to check GameTyrant’s five best Switch games of 2017 here.
