Nintendo Reveals Switch Sales and Game Sales Numbers, and They're Insane

Nintendo's earnings report was published today as the Kyoto-based company met with investors to announce hardware and software sales, and introduce a new president to-be. Needless to say, the Nintendo Switch is doing incredibly well. In fact, it's doing much better than anyone predicted, and the predictions were already extremely optimistic.

As of March 31, Nintendo is reporting that 17.79 Nintendo Switches have been sold -- not shipped, but sold -- worldwide. This absolutely demolishes the 14 million unit goal that Nintendo had set for itself by the end of the fiscal year ending in March. For almost half a year after launch, the Switch was selling out completely online and in brick-and-mortar stores across the world, and momentum has barely slowed since then.

Of course, huge hardware sales means huge software sales. We've heard miracle stories from third-party developers across the board about how Switch game sales have exceeded expectations, with at least one indie developer claiming that the Switch saved its company. Per the earnings report, Nintendo supplied first-party software sales data, and all of its first-party games -- even new IPs like ARMS and recent launches like Kirby Star Allies -- have surpassed 1 million units sold. Most games have surpassed many million units sold. Here's the lineup:

• Super Mario Odyssey – 10.41 million units
• Mario Kart 8 Deluxe – 9.22m
• Zelda BOTW – 8.48m
• Splatoon 2 – 6.02m
• 1-2 Switch – 2.29m
• ARMS – 1.85m
• Xenoblade 2 - 1.31m
• Kirby Star Allies – 1.29m

It's incredible. Super Mario Odyssey blazing past the 10 million sales milestone isn't a surprise, but it is surprising how fast it happened. No doubt Breath of the Wild will cross the 10 million mark before long. I don't think anyone could have predicted Splatoon 2 soaring over 6 million units sold, and even ARMS, as niche and novel as it is, has managed to become an almost multi-million-selling hit.

So where do we go from here? Nintendo is predicting that it will sell another 20 million Switch units this year, which is pretty insane. That means that by this time next year, there could be 40 million Nintendo Switch units out in the wild. Keep in mind that the Xbox One has been around since 2013, and it's currently estimated to have sold around 35 million units (give or take a few million, since Microsoft doesn't make those numbers public knowledge).

Think Nintendo will pass up Microsoft this year? Could it even surpass the PS4? Let us know what you think in the comments below!

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