Nintendo Expects to Sell a Lot of Switch 2 Systems This Year

Nintendo Switch 2 will launch in just four weeks, and it remains to be seen how the system will perform from a sales perspective. Nintendo has some lofty expectations in that regard, and the company laid out its forecast during its most recent financial results briefing. According to the company, it expects to sell 15 million units in the fiscal year ending in March 2026, as well as 45 million pieces of software. Nintendo says that number does not account for copies of Mario Kart World bundled with the system itself, or upgrade packs for existing Switch games like The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.

There are already some good signs that sales will be strong out of the gate. Last month, Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa revealed that demand “far” exceeded expectations in Japan, and that the company would not be able to fulfill all requests from those that registered an interest. In the U.S., pre-orders have also sold out from various retailers, including GameStop, Target, and Walmart. It’s impossible to say what supply will be like on launch day, but Nintendo seems to be gearing up for high-demand.

During today’s briefing, sales figures for the current Nintendo Switch were updated, and the system has now sold 152.12 million units worldwide. That still puts the system slightly below the Nintendo DS, which managed 154.02 million during its time on the market. It’s likely Switch will surpass that number sometime in the near future, but it still has a way to go before it can reach the PlayStation 2, which remains the highest-selling video game system ever.

One thing that bodes well for Nintendo is the fact that Switch continues to see great interest more than eight years after its release. Several exclusive Switch games released over the last year have cleared 1 million units sold, including titles such as Luigi’s Mansion 2 HD, Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, and The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom. The number of annual users playing Switch is also more than 128 million; given how many people are still playing the system and buying new games, it’s not a leap to imagine many people wanting to upgrade to play exclusive titles like Mario Kart World and Kirby Air Riders.

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Nintendo Switch 2 is set to launch on June 5th, so we won’t have to wait long to see how the system performs in terms of sales. Nintendo is going to have a hard time meeting or surpassing lifetime sales of the current system, but it’s clear that the company’s confidence is high. When the original Switch was released, the system outsold the 10 million in sales that had been projected, forcing Nintendo to increase its expectations. Whether or not history repeats remains to be seen.

Are you planning to buy a Nintendo Switch 2 next month? Do you still regularly use your current Switch? Share your thoughts with me directly on Bluesky at @Marcdachamp, or on Instagram at @Dachampgaming!