Nintendo‘s hybrid console empire just posted two milestones at once: the original Switch has now reached 155.92 million units sold lifetime, while the Switch 2 has crossed 19.86 million units since its June 5, 2025 launch. Both figures come from Nintendo’s official sales reporting, and taken together they paint a picture of a company running two commercially dominant consoles at the same time – which is not something you see often.
For context, the Switch’s lifetime figure puts it tantalizingly close to the PlayStation 2‘s all-time record of roughly 160 million units – a number that has stood for over two decades as the gold standard of console sales. The journey there has been genuinely relentless: the Switch crossed 150.86 million by December 2024, overtook the Nintendo DS at 154.02 million earlier in 2025 to become Nintendo’s best-selling hardware ever, and has kept ticking upward even as its successor launched. My Nintendo News reported the console adding around 910,000 units in a single quarter late in 2025 – modest by peak-era standards, but remarkable for hardware approaching its ninth year on shelves.
The Switch 2 number is the one that should really catch your eye, though. 19.86 million units in under a year is a blistering pace – Nintendo had originally projected 15 million Switch 2 units for the full fiscal year ending March 2026, a target the console blew past on the back of consistent month-on-month momentum, including topping US sales charts ahead of PS5. Analyst Hideki Yasuda of Toyokeizai has suggested Switch 2 could reach 20 million by mid-2026 if supply holds – and at this rate, that looks less like a prediction and more like a formality.
What this dual-console performance signals for Nintendo is pretty straightforward: the ecosystem transition is going smoothly, and backward compatibility has almost certainly helped keep existing Switch owners invested while they upgrade. The software pipeline doesn’t look like it’s slowing down either – if you want to see what’s fuelling that Switch 2 momentum, our full guide to Switch 2 games available in 2026 is worth a look. Nintendo’s next quarterly earnings will give us a clearer read on where both consoles land by the end of Q1 FY2027, and a rumoured Super Mario Odyssey 2 exclusive could push Switch 2 numbers even further before the year is out.
Are you surprised the original Switch is still selling in meaningful numbers alongside its successor, or did you expect Nintendo fans to make exactly this kind of overlap work? Sound off in the comments below, and keep your eyes on GameLuster for more Nintendo and Switch 2 coverage.
