Nintendo Switch hits 84.59 million units sold, with 28.8 million sold this past year

Nintendo reported its year-end financial results today and said the Switch sold more than 28.8 million units, up 37.1%, in the past 12 months ended March 31.

Lifetime sales of the Switch are now at 84.59 million units, with 587.12 million copies of software. That means it has outdistanced the Nintendo 3DS, which sold 75.94 million units and 386.48 million copies of software.

Nintendo forecasted that it could sell another 26.5 million Switch consoles in the next year ending March 31, 2022. That suggests that the Switch has hit its peak year already. During the year, Nintendo’s operating profit nearly doubled. Why the Switch is peaking is up for debate. Nintendo may be making a conservative estimate. It may also be held back by the same semiconductor shortage that is constraining sales of the PlayStation 5 and the Xbox Series X. Or people may finally be in the mood to buy something else, since the Switch has been on the market since March 2017.

Animal Crossing: New Horizons sold 20.85 million in the past year, reaching cumulative sales of 32.63 million units. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe sold 10.62 million copies, reaching cumulative sales of 35.39 million units, and Ring Fit Adventure sold 7.38 million copies, hitting cumulative sales of 10.11 million.

Meanwhile, Super Mario 3D All-Stars and Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury — which were released this fiscal year as part of the Super Mario Bros. 35th Anniversary campaign — saw sales of 9.01 million copies and 5.59 million copies, respectively. In addition to  Nintendo titles, sales of titles from other software publishers also continued to grow steadily, for a total of 36 million-seller titles for this fiscal year, including titles from these other software publishers.

Above: Animal Crossing: New Horizons

Image Credit: Nintendo

In the fiscal year ended March 31, software sales reached 230.88 million units, an increase of 36.8% year-on-year.

Nintendo Switch Online sales were also steady, helping to bring digital sales to 344.1 billion yen, or $3.1 billion, an increase of 68.5% year-on-year. The mobile business reached $521.4 million, up 11.3% from the previous year.

Overall, Nintendo’s net sales were $16.1 billion, with overseas sales accounting for 77.4% of the total. Operating profit was $5.86 billion.

The Kyoto, Japan-based company said it will release a blue color Nintendo Switch Lite in May. First-party software titles planned for global release include Miitopia in May, Mario Golf: Super Rush in June, and The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD in July. In addition, the Pokémon series is receiving new additions with the planned release of Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Pokémon
Shining Pearl in late 2021.

In the mobile business, Nintendo is collaborating with Niantic to develop a new application featuring Pikmin for smart devices. This title is expected to be released by Niantic in the second half of 2021.

Nintendo expects to hit $14.6 billion in sales for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2022. Operating profit will be $4.57 billion.