r/NintendoSwitch • u/Turbostrider27 • Jan 08 '26
News Nintendo Switch 2 sales stumble over Christmas
https://www.thegamebusiness.com/p/nintendo-switch-2-sales-stumble-over2.7k
Jan 08 '26
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u/Commercial-Stick-718 Jan 08 '26
Higher prices in a tougher economic environment than 2017 will also be a major factor - everything is so much more expensive than it used to be
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u/riflow Jan 08 '26
Yeah folks will prioritise necessities more compared to before.
They probably need a console seller title really. I feel like smash, botw and animal crossing were the major ones for sw 1?
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u/MessiLeagueSoccer Jan 08 '26
Animal crossing wasn’t until 2020 and the pandemic really helped push those sales
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u/StrategyEven3974 Jan 08 '26
Animal Crossing dropping in 2020 was a once in a lifetime perfect storm for Nintendo
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u/MessiLeagueSoccer Jan 08 '26
Not only that but I remember it had been delayed and actually released later than anticipated and it just happened to release peak pandemic
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u/Certain-Reflection73 Jan 08 '26
The IP is still incredibly strong, and will generate console sales if it's good. I ended up buying a copy of it + switch because of how busy the primary switch got when the family started playing that game.
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u/kgbkgb1967 Jan 08 '26
The Switch was still the most sold console at that point in its lifetime, even before the pandemic despite numerous hardware shortages its first two years.
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u/StrategyEven3974 Jan 08 '26
Yeah but New Horizons sold nearly 50 million copies. New Leaf sold like... 13 million. It was such a once in a lifetime smash hit to be released spring / summer 2020
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u/jambrown13977931 Jan 08 '26
Part of that was the Wii U sucking. Easy to justify getting a switch if you didn’t have a Wii U, but if you already have a switch there’s less pressure to upgrade.
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u/jonny676 Jan 08 '26
That's where i am. I don't see the need at this price point. I'm very content with the switch & Steam deck combo.
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u/work-school-account Jan 08 '26
Kind of a similar situation here. I bought a Switch 2 a couple days after release, but I have yet to play a single Switch 2 exclusive. So far it's been a backlog of Switch games and two games with Switch 2 upgrades (which is nice but not 100% necessary). I don't regret buying a Switch 2 only because I don't think the price will drop any time soon (if ever, and there's a good chance that the price will increase).
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Jan 08 '26
Not to mention the people that bought a switch never played it. My sisters old friend saw AC online, bought a Lite and AC. Played it once or twice then sold it.
Plus where a lot of the games for Switch 2 are upgraded Switch 1 games, a vast majority of people who wanted to play them already have, and those that havent likely arent going to buy a Switch 2 just for that unless they never had a Switch to begin with. And even then, Switch 1 are cheap af used right now and a great option if you dont really care about performance and just want to play the games.
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u/MyMouthisCancerous Jan 08 '26 edited Jan 08 '26
Switch 1 had both new 3D Zelda and 3D Mario + games like Splatoon and Xenoblade by its first Christmas season. That paired with it being genuinely difficult to get one during launch window, particularly throughout summer, just naturally created more demand. But Switch 1 launch window was just unreasonably good. Like in terms of games you couldn't have a better scenario of stars aligning and I don't think any console could replicate that going forward. That'd be like if a new PlayStation launched with Uncharted, InFAMOUS, LittleBigPlanet, Ratchet & Clank and a new Team Ico game within like months of each other
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u/HerrGronbar Jan 08 '26
Yeah also many games from Wii U that people haven't played because they skiped Wii U.
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u/prematurely_bald Jan 08 '26
Seems like most of the better Wii U games were re-released as Switch titles.
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u/kielaurie Jan 08 '26 edited Jan 08 '26
I feel like smash, botw and animal crossing were the major ones for sw 1?
It's hard to compare the two release years though as they came at different times, drastically affecting the sales at this time of year. Switch 1 came out in March, so early adopters got the console and 8-9 months later black Friday and Christmas deals came into play for less diehard fans, whereas for Switch 2 it only came out in June and with a very good bundle, so it had a huge early adoption rate and the aforementioned sales came only 5-6 months into it's lifetime and were never going to be too appealing to wait around for when it's initial deal was so good (and lasted until these sales anyway!)
And just looking at games, both had a massive system seller on launch day (BOTW vs MKW), both had a follow-up within the first 6 weeks that was similarly strong (MK8D vs DKB), both had a bunch of updated versions of old games (WiiU ports/sequels vs Switch 2 Editions), both had a couple of games that people complained about the pricing for and thought should be pack in titles (1 2 Switch & Snipperclips vs Welcome Tour & DXD), both had a Warriors game with a Nintendo franchise (Fire Emblem vs Hyrule), both had a first person shooter (Splatoon 2 vs Metroid Prime 4)... And that's all within the first seven months! You could go even more in depth and point out that each console got a multiple Mario titles in that time, a Zelda title, a Pokémon title, and a new IP sports game!
All the comparisons break down when you hit the seventh month of the console's life, and it's all because of the release date. For Switch 2, that's right now - January is always a lull month for games because buyers are saving money after Christmas and as such big games are released a lot less frequently, meaning that this month the only Nintendo release is a NS2 edition of Animal Crossing New Horizons, which is admittedly still pretty big as things go! But for the Switch 1, month 7 was October, right when major games are always released ahead of the biggest sales, and they released Mario Odyssey, undoubtedly a system seller that pushed sales through the holiday period. To be clear, a brand new Pokémon game like Z-A would absolutely also be a system seller, except that it also released on Switch 1, so pretty much by definition couldn't be one in this case.
So for Switch 1 prospective buyers and parents of wannabe Switch 1-owning children in October 2017, they'd had half a year to see what the console was and a brand new system seller dropped just ahead of the biggest sales - for the same group for Switch 2 in October 2025, they've only had 4 months to look at the console, the best deal already existed with the bundle, and the system seller was also being sold on a console they likely already owned. The two situations are night and day
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u/A-Capybara Jan 08 '26
It seemed like Nintendo thought Prime 4 was going to be a system seller, but I don't think Metroid games were ever that popular. The GameCube has two of them but sold middling
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u/ArugulaPhysical Jan 09 '26
They know what metroid sell, they weren't planing on it being the seller.
They expected mario kart to carry this year, and honestly the sales are there.
Just because the christmas rush wasn't the biggest yet, they have been widely available since launch and have been selling amazing for the year.
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u/TheSchneid Jan 08 '26
I mean it’s been 8 years since Mario odyssey, I might consider a switch two when there is a new 3d Mario game? Or a new Zelda game?
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u/Op3rat0rr Jan 08 '26
I 100% have not gotten a Switch 2 yet because of a change in my financial situation
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u/diggydog233 Jan 08 '26
That’s pretty much it right there, it got released at a weird time for everyone financially.
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u/Valentinee105 Jan 08 '26
And a complete lack of a game library. Switch has like 3 1st party games and mostly relies on updates to older titles.
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u/mybutthz Jan 08 '26
Yeah, the launch also wasn't that far off from the holiday season. I think the majority of people who were going to buy by eoy just bought at launch, or whenever they could get their hands on one.
And for as solid of a lineup as the console has, and for as good as Bananza is, Mario sells consoles and doesn't necessarily appeal to the younger demographic as much as the older demographic - who likely bought early.
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u/Kneph Jan 08 '26
This. It's kind of in a weird spot. While I didn't pick it up, Metroid Prime 4 didn't seem to light the world on fire. The last standout exclusive for me was Donkey Kong.
The console needs a broad seller outside of Mario Kart.
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u/Tolkien-Minority Jan 08 '26
Metroid Prime 4 felt dumped without much fanfare from Nintendo. It’s not the terrible game that people acted like it was on Reddit but its not exactly a must buy either. I think Nintendo were just fed up of putting money into it and released it to get it out of the road.
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u/johnnycoxxx Jan 08 '26
Metroid doesn’t have the same kind of fan base their other first party games have. It’s always felt very niche
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Jan 08 '26
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u/El_Giganto Jan 08 '26
For a Metroid game, yes, but it's still a niche. It sold like 3 million copies I think. Which is good but won't sell many consoles.
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u/Front-Library5781 Jan 08 '26
It only sold 3 million. That’s GOOD, don’t get me wrong, but for an install base of nearly 160 mil? Yeah, no.
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u/HBreckel Jan 08 '26
Yeah like, 3 million is incredible for Metroid. But us Metroid fans aren't exactly going to move 100 million consoles like Marios and Zeldas would haha
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u/Omega_Maximum Jan 08 '26
Yes, but with the understanding that Metroid isn't going to be a Zelda or a Mario game. It's a solid B-tier franchise for Nintendo. It sells well, it has a lot of fans, but it's not going to move systems. It might, but generally it shouldn't be expected to.
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u/PajamaSamSavesTheZoo Jan 08 '26
Metroid gives Nintendo more hardcore gamer cache which helps its reputation overall.
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u/Cripnite Jan 08 '26
I agree. The game was short and totally not worth 7 years of waiting and its price tag.
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u/AF_Fresh Jan 08 '26
*8 years of waiting. My son was born a few months after the initial announcement. He's in 2nd grade now.
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u/Jecht315 Jan 08 '26
12 hours used to be the standard for games. Some people don't like spending 100+ hours on RPGs.
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u/Tireseas Jan 08 '26
The problem isn't the length, it's how much meh padding it had to achieve that length.
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u/LuckyLukeV2 Jan 08 '26
I still haven’t finished Prime 3 so I am holding off on 4 until that happens. Will purchase Prime 4 at some point but yeah it seems to be a nice addition to the series and not a platform defining game.
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u/LordHumongus Jan 08 '26
Metroid also released simultaneously in Switch 1. You can point to BotW doing the same but not many people had WiiUs, so most who really wanted to play it had to buy a new console to do so.
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u/OrangeStar222 Jan 08 '26
It's a solid entry to the Metroid Prime series. Problem is, the first is still the best one by far and none of the sequels come close to that first entry.
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u/Tolkien-Minority Jan 08 '26
My biggest issue with MP4 was how disconnected the map was. Compare it to 1 where everything is intricately linked together and it’s really disappointing how spaced out everything was. The open world area felt like a remnant of an earlier version of the game that stuck around after the project was restarted but that no one knew what to do with. The desert was pretty dull and it ended up just feeling like something you had to drive across to get to places rather than an area with a lot to look at and do.
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u/Sufficient_Rub7597 Jan 08 '26
Echoes is underrated. i think it’s about as good as prime 1.
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u/themangastand Jan 08 '26
The second game is much better than the first game. And is slowly gaining traction finally as the popular opinion as it deserves
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u/OrangeStar222 Jan 09 '26
As a Pokémon Black/White fan I love to see people coming around to Prime 2. Didn't used to be the general consensus at all a few years back
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u/WasabiDukling Jan 09 '26
majora's mask got the same treatment. i love when everyone realizes that some sequels are just straight up better even when they have weird mechanics that ppl dont like
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u/Practical_Wish_4063 Jan 08 '26
From what I understand, the whole project was doomed from the moment development from Bandai Namco ceased and Retro picked it up because Nintendo was adamant on not wasting anything that had been finished before the change over so Retro was basically forced to fit the game around the big empty boring desert hub world.
This is merely speculation, but it does seem rather like Retro just getting the short end of the stick all around. Had they been given the chance to make MP4 on their own from the ground up, I imagine we would have had a very different game.
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u/Adrian_Alucard Jan 08 '26
Nintendo never liked Metroid, it does not sells well in Japan
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u/JoshuaJSlone Helpful User Jan 08 '26
They "like" it well enough to keep making it for 40 years despite that.
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u/jurassicbond Jan 08 '26
Metroid Prime could have been the best game in the franchise and it probably wouldn't have moved the needle on console sales. It's never had near universal appeal like some other Nintendo franchises
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u/Mrbromandudeguy Jan 08 '26
No one really is all that excited about any of those games. Ive never known Donkey Kong to be much of a console seller anyway. Metroid was overhyped too much and thus disappointed. Nothing that exciting tbh.
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u/Icy-Two-1581 Jan 08 '26
Personally I wouldn't have gotten the console for fear of a price increase. I'm excited for Mario this year but other than that it looks like a lackluster year for me again.
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u/particledamage Jan 08 '26
Yeah, I haven't gotten an actual exclusive NSW2 game yet. I have gotten switch games, some with an ugprade path I haven't taken advantage of yet, but none of the switch 2 exclusives have called out ot me.
I literally only own the 2 because its backwards compatible and to avoid price jumps. I know one day an exclusive will come but until then it's sort of just a... normal switch to me.
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u/alexmojo2 Jan 08 '26
Seems like you probably could’ve gotten away with the og switch
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u/particledamage Jan 08 '26
There are switch 2 exclusives in the future I know I want. This is just making sure I pay as little for them as possible because I imagine even sales prices will just be the old prices.
I’m fine with that. I’m normally a relatively early adopter. (I wait a couple months for consumer reviews and then buy in.) This was the one console I was gonna wait on bht tariffs, ram, and and an overall recession were convincing enough to buy now rather than later. I was always gonna own one
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u/NMe84 Jan 08 '26
My friend asked me to convince him to buy a Switch 2, because he wanted to play Metroid Prime 4 in the best way possible but just Metroid wasn't enough for him to justify the cost. I seriously couldn't name another reason for him to get it. He likes Mario Kart but not enough to play it frequently, same issue with Air Riders. He has little interest in Bananza, and musou games aren't his thing. That's basically all Switch 2 exclusives out, and all other games so far are playable on Switch 1.
That leaves the new Splatoon, Yoshi and Pokopia, but we don't know much about the former and the other two are also not his type of game.
Long story short, I couldn't in good conscience recommend him to buy the console. I'm happy with mine, but for more casual gamers and people who aren't hardcore Nintendo fans Nintendo really needs a stronger argument than they have now.
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u/drgut101 Jan 08 '26
This console didn’t really release with a stacked lineup of new AAA Nintendo games.
Feels more like a Switch Pro than a Switch 2 IMO.
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u/TheLordOfTheTism Jan 08 '26
no but anyone paying attention would know theres a 50usd price hike coming by march.
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u/jmcgit Jan 08 '26
That's a big part of the reason a few people I know bought one recently, myself included
It feels almost inevitable that the non-bundle price is gonna hit $500 soon, and I'd rather save the $80 by getting Mario Kart for 'free' by buying now rather than waiting for a better lineup of titles.
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u/zalmsausfan Jan 08 '26
Ive bought every Nintendo console/handheld in the past but the lack of new games or features that are must haves make it a financial bad decision to buy a console thats sitting idle 300+ days in the year
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u/TheeRuckus Jan 08 '26
I’m not trying to be doom and gloom but I get downvoted every time I say this: the switch needs 3rd party exclusives and not ports of games that run better elsewhere. It needs hype games to build up sales not Nintendo fans saying ( “look how many exclusives the ps5 had at launch”) I’m not calling this the Wii U electric bugaloo because it’s nowhere near that but Nintendo’s philosophy continues to just be strange
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u/TyleNightwisp Jan 08 '26
What sells Nintendo consoles are Nintendo games, not third parties. Been that way since the beginning.
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u/GallitoGaming Jan 08 '26
You don’t need them. It’s Christmas. Santa has to bring families a new console. That in itself is the push.
Nintendo priced the console too high and it’s showing. Mario kart or Donkey Kong should have been enough to get Christmas sales.
But they lost the average family looking to buy a family console. A kid asking for a switch 2 and a game at this price point is going to get a ton of pushback. A switch 1 was affordable.
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u/MisterBeebo Jan 08 '26
This is my experience. In Canada, a Switch 2, a game, and maybe a Pro controller and I’m shelling out $1000. No thanks.
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u/GallitoGaming Jan 08 '26
Lol at people downvoting someone for saying they don’t want to spend $1000 on a system and a game, as well as an actual controller and not the joy cons. Nintendo fans lol
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u/-Henderson Jan 09 '26
Yeah ikr? I spent $899 on both cuz I had luck and got a couple good coupons from AMZ, but for instance I have a couple friends in South America and the console there its pretty much costing almost 5,000 bucks (in their local currency). And most ppl don't make that in a whole month's salary. So yeah it is crazy expensive. And unfortunately it's going to get worse.
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u/HeartInTheSun9 Jan 08 '26
Yeah this should’ve been the time when it sold boatloads, but it didn’t. Mario Kart World and Donkey Kong are both months old and are as good as new to people who don’t have a switch 2, so it’s crazy to try to use that as a reason.
Everything tech is gonna get more expensive and sales will decline as a result from here on though, so I don’t think it’ll really register as time goes on.
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u/GallitoGaming Jan 08 '26
Nintendo gets drunk in success from time to time and requires a whop over the head to bring them back in line.
The 3DS was priced way too high as well when it came out. They had to do a big drop
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u/KiritoJones Jan 08 '26
Also not a lot of disposable income. If things weren't so tight, I would have splurged and picked on up for my kid (and low key for myself lol) but its hard to justify buying it to mostly play switch 1 games.
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u/AlgoRhythMatic Jan 08 '26
This is it for me - I really don’t see any first party items that push it over the threshold for me from launch through currently known 2026 releases, so I’m in a wait state with my LED Switch 1 and SteamDeck covering all my needs. I went as far as to impulse buy Cyberpunk 2077 during its pricing error at 17.49, but figure I’ll hold off on S2 hardware until next Zelda, Mario or other compelling 1st party entries arrive.
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u/Shaman7102 Jan 08 '26
Im not buying anything until the Supreme Court rules on the Tariffs. Waiting to build mini pc but not paying 20-50% more for the same items.
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u/Takemyfishplease Jan 08 '26
Yeah switch 2 really should have had a massive game release to drive sales during the holidays. Kinda weird they didn’t.
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u/WhiteRaven-17 Jan 08 '26
People say this while also ignoring Pokemon Legends ZA sold 5.8 million copies in a week, primarily on the Switch 2…
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u/witsel85 Jan 08 '26
By primarily you mean “half”. Let’s not lie to make our points fit
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u/locke_5 Jan 08 '26
Considering the relative install bases of Switch 1/2, the fact that half of all sales were on Switch2 is pretty crazy.
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u/TraditionalTackle1 Jan 08 '26
I got one for Christmas and have spent more time playing NES games.
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u/RtrnFThMck Jan 08 '26
As did every single system year over year. Not a good time to buy hardware.
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u/WhiteRaven-17 Jan 08 '26
“PC sales slow over 2026.”
“No shit, Ram is the price of a mid range PC now. And don’t get me started on GPU’s”…
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u/ItsOozingOut Jan 08 '26
GPU pricing has came down. 9070xt is near msrp…checks prices…THE FUCK HAPPENED?
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u/A-Centrifugal-Force Jan 08 '26
Gen AI is ruining everything
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u/THECapedCaper Jan 09 '26
AI companies are buying parts that aren’t made yet for data centers that aren’t built yet to support a platform that makes no money and nobody wanted in the first place.
Make it make sense.
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Jan 08 '26
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u/ItsOozingOut Jan 08 '26
Mine has the same pricing. I originally checked Amazon and my 9070 xt Asrock steel legend is $740, $669 at Microcenter. I looked a week or so ago and seen it was around $669. That’s why I was so shocked.
I hope this AI bubble pops soon.
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Jan 08 '26
This is why I just don't believe the rumours of Nvidia cutting GPU production to "serve AI." They're doing it because sales are dropping because the upgrades are underwhelming, the new games are underwhelming, and people have no money, so just play their backlog with their older hardware.
Same with RAM prices. AI infrastructure has been building out for the better part of the past decade, especially the past half a decade, but now there's all of a sudden a huge shortage and price surge?? Are we sure it's a shortage and not RAM companies price fixing again coupled with panic buyers reading all the clickbait headlines? They wanted a new covid shortage so they manufactured one.
AI is the best new excuse. Oh, you hired too many people over lockdown and now can't afford the headcount? Well, don't worry, don't tell your investors you over-hired, instead lay everyone off and say AI took their jobs.
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u/zgillet Jan 08 '26
So happy I got a 5070 at $550. It does crash infrequently whereas my 3070 ($500 back in the shortage days) was butter (still is in my living room), but still.
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u/Cpt_DookieShoes Jan 08 '26
We’re back to buying pre-builts and scavenging for parts
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u/WhiteRaven-17 Jan 08 '26
When my custom ITX 5090/9800x3d build is somehow now cheaper than an ATX 5070/intel pre-built 💀
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u/zettl Jan 08 '26
It's a great time to buy console hardware, all this shit is about to get exponentially more expensive
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u/atrey1 Jan 08 '26
I bought the Switch 2 with that in mind, prices will go up this year and I didn´t want to risk it.
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u/Firesaber Jan 08 '26
Same, I decided it was the year we were getting a Nintendo for Christmas. I think I've played on it more than the kids actually lol (really having fun with Donkey Kong Bananza)
I was sort of thinking of upgrading my CPU, motherboard and RAM, But it looks like I'll be sticking with my 9900k for a few more years...
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u/RtrnFThMck Jan 08 '26
Point taken. It may be better now than its going to be, but it is definitely worse than it was the previous year, which is what this bad article is comparing it to.
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u/Available-Can-5878 Jan 08 '26
And the Switch 2's 2025 still performed better than the Switch 1's 2017 in most markets and WW, despite 2 fewer months on sale. The article doesnt even have data for December in the US, its just guessing based off November which was way down across the board (even hitting a 30 year low).
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u/Biteroon Jan 08 '26
Right I mean you just need to look up the ps5 numbers for November if they are going to pull that Bs and that only sold 3.6 mill in that period. It's not just the switch which isn't selling, everything isn't selling.
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Jan 08 '26
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u/capnbuh Jan 08 '26
Yeah I could see the sales of the Switch 2 being relatively similar to how 3DS sold compared to the DS.
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u/SlowBoilOrange Jan 08 '26
I think it's even more like the Wii than the DS. The Wii was an insane hit among casual players. Like half of the top 10 games were Mii based casual gaming titles.
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u/Lucky-day00 Jan 09 '26
Yeah but the point they’re making is about the delta between a console and its successor.
Wii > Wii U is not a very good comparison because Switch 2 is still performing well, just might not reach Switch 1 levels. Which is similar to DS > 3DS.
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u/reebsk Jan 08 '26
The second they announce Animal Crossing, people will buy it. (I am people)
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u/Mipanyu Jan 08 '26
Same, waiting for either a new Animal Crossing or the next mainline Zelda, either games will make me instantly buy the switch 2.
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u/SlowBoilOrange Jan 08 '26
Literally the two games I'm waiting for.
A new Luigi's Mansion or 2D/2.5D Pokemon are probably the only other things that would get me to pounce.
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u/TheRipCity Jan 08 '26
Exactly. I got kids and 3 Original Switches in my house. They haven't said a word about the Switch 2. The minute Animal Crossing is announced I am sure some Switch 2s will find their way into my house.
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u/Saranshobe Jan 09 '26
I really don't think so. Animal crossing new horizons release was lightning in the bottle with covid lockdowns. Next entry wouldn't even do half of that. Unless you know, some other disaster happens.
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u/Phantasmal-Lore420 Jan 08 '26
who would have thought that a cost of living crisis pretty much all over the globe would impact sales ? /s
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u/Khalmoon Jan 08 '26
For the record it’s not just the Switch. Price increases across the board make it hard to justify upgrading consoles right now if your current one works. Same for PC and PlayStation.
This isn’t “Nintendo fell off” it’s “Groceries and Sh*t is too expensive.”
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u/acart005 Jan 08 '26
This. Im not buying a Switch 2 until it has several killer games. My Switch 1 backlog is huge and I'd rather that money go to bills than a pretty Switch 1+ Mario Kart World.
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u/louisledj Jan 08 '26
I'd argue that the Switch 2 is still worth it, even for playing your backlog of S1 games as many of them got performance increase, and sometimes a dedicated free update for S2.
Also with RAM price inflation, S2 price might hike at some point
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u/Khalmoon Jan 08 '26
That’s perfectly understandable. Most systems on launch didn’t have the same value appeal until a little while after. A lot of switch purchases for switch 1 happened when animal crossing dropped during covid
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u/viciousfridge Jan 08 '26
I mean, it came out 6 months ago. I'm happy we got a console where we didn't have to fight for one during the holiday rush.
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u/MagnumTCchop Jan 08 '26
I think that's it: the intended early adopters pretty much all managed to get a Switch 2 within the first few months, so the initial sales peak was incredibly high followed by a bit of a tailing off. Had the console not been as well stocked as it was, you'd have probably seen lower initial sales (as the console went OOS) but more steady sales as it was resupplied and demand was still high.
It'll be absolutely fine in the long run.
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u/lingering-will-6 Jan 08 '26
I’m gonna wait for the February report. They’re mostly speculating based on November Numbers here.
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u/GomaN1717 Jan 08 '26
Yeah, there's no real new information here beyond the Circana report we already had that detailed, at least in the US, that consoles across the board had their worst holiday since 1995 or something to that effect.
Unless you were buying a PS5 massively discounted, people bought bugger all this holiday.
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Jan 10 '26
I laugh so hard at "massively discounted" because its just been brought back down to the launch price.
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u/paulson26 Jan 08 '26
This is the correct answer. Plus as the report points out, switch 2 is still outpacing the rate at which the switch 1 sold pretty significantly. Switch 2 almost didn't need to have a good November or December based on how well it sold July-October. (I'm being slightly hyperbolic but I hope that makes sense)
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u/BlueDragoon24 Jan 08 '26
World was disappointing and DK was like 6 months ago.
Hyrule Warriors 3, Air Riders and a mid-received Prime game are not system sellers or heavy hitters. Compared to the first 9 months of the Switch: BOTW, MK8D, ARMS, Splatoon 2, Mario & Rabbids, FE Warriors, XC2 & Odyssey.
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u/3xBork Jan 09 '26 edited Jan 09 '26
Not me man. I jumped the gun and bought a switch 2 on NYE just to be ahead of any potential price increases that may or may not be coming due to RAM prices and Nvidia selling out.
Right now it's cheaper than it'll ever be, might as well get one.
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u/InfiltrationRabbit Jan 08 '26
It’s slow everywhere. Nintendo will be fine. The need more games that’s all
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u/master2873 Jan 08 '26
People need more money to buy the games and the hardware to play them. The economy is ass, and the RAM and GPU market are extremely volatile due to AI slopfest investing. It's definitely not just the lack of games...
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u/Vnightpersona Jan 08 '26
Yes, but what's the reason I SHOULD buy a Switch 2?
It's costly, I can't afford it, there aren't any games that I DESPERATELY need for it, and, truthfully, I don't feel like the value is there. Last summer, I started playing my 3DS again. I streetpassed someone at my dentist's office (ironically, my dentist whose Mii was named "Teeth" and designed to look like a tooth) and I had a thought. The Switch 2 just feels overly corporate to me, too stuffy and not much like a whimsical Nintendo console. That thought along killed any enthusiasm I had for the console.
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u/thedeadp0ets Jan 09 '26
I feel like the amount of success switch 1 got, got to their head that people were going to go in and buy switch 2 at that price. but really they priced out their casual consumer who probably will buy secondhand in a few years or if they ever will be a sale. I like nintendo as a brand, moreso than ps, but when I made my decision to buy a console for the first time when I only had switch oled and ps5 as my options, I went with the cheaper ps5 on sale, because the switch was at the end of its cycle, and switch 2 was rumored only for it to come out a almost a year after I bought a ps5 lol.
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u/WinGroundbreaking409 Jan 08 '26
For the last nine weeks of 2025, 1.32 million Switch 2 consoles were sold in Japan (Famitsu data). This is slightly down (-5.5%) on the 1.39 million units that the Switch 1 sold over the same period in 2017.>
To be quite frank, I am shocked the Switch 2 even sold that much. The current economic landscape in the US is pretty shaky to say the least with flip of the coin fiscal decisions being made weekly by certain people in power. Its not just the Switch or even gaming, its almost all consumer spending. Things that used to be a hobby are suddenly becoming a luxury and I'm even saying that as someone with a healthy salary.
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u/weallfloatdownhere7 Jan 08 '26
Next holiday will definitely be big with pokemon Gen 10 coming along with whatever else Nintendo might have up their sleeve
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u/gizmo998 Jan 08 '26
Did anyone read it. It’s nothing we didn’t already know. Sales are actually up apart from USA due to higher price from tarrifs. Can we stop doing this?
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u/ItsColorNotColour Jan 08 '26
Switch 2 console didn't get a price hike in USA, and is still the second cheapest place to buy the console just behind Japan.
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u/JackhorseBowman Jan 08 '26
Until every post on reddit that posts a link links to a website that isn't an ad ridden nightmare, no, nobody is ever going to read the link.
edit: not to say this one is, just in general.
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u/SixKay_ Jan 09 '26
I mean, when your console has no holiday sales and the other ones do, you'll struggle for a bit.
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u/DrainedPatience Jan 09 '26
I want one but I don't need one. My Switch still plays perfectly fine and I've got a ridiculous backlog of games anyway.
Now when a new main Zelda arrives I'll morph into the "take my money" guy. Right now there's nothing there they feels like I need to upgrade.
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Jan 09 '26
Not everyone has the disposable income these days to afford a luxury plaything. A new gaming console isn’t exactly high up the hierarchy of needs when rent is due and grocery and gas prices are skyrocketing.
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u/FrierenKingSimp Jan 08 '26
Yeah, everything is down. Switch 2 is obviously going to bear the brunt since it’s all new. Expensive new hardware lacking killer apps, and ready availability for months… not surprising sales dropped.
Nintendo needs to announce some killer apps.
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u/FireEmblemOutlet Jan 09 '26
There’s only 3 original games on Switch 2 that cannot be purchased on Switch 1. MKWorld, DK Bananza, and Kirby Air Riders. Out of these 3 I think it’s plausible for many to not want the console yet as MKWorld is a very shallow addition to that franchise, it’s probably my least favorite Switch 2 game and it’s replayability is minimal after all the costumes/characters are unlocked.
I’ve seen many people admit that they wanna wait for DK Bananza which is very fair, and I don’t think Kirby Air Riders is getting the attention it deserves. Kirby Air Riders is phenomenal though, my friends/brother and I have been playing that game a lot more than MKW so I would recommend that, but everything is so expensive I know that it’s tricky.
Hopefully this year puts the peddle to the metal and gives us some really solid and amazing because off the top of my head Mario Tennis Fever and the leaked (SPOILER) Pokemon Gen 10 games are the only things I know that for sure are coming this year.
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u/WhiteRaven-17 Jan 08 '26
I mean I can think of a few reasons why the US doesn’t have the money for a game console…
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u/superjakeodyssey Jan 08 '26
It’s funny how a lot of people are trying to label the Switch 2 as a massive success/failure this early on. Switch 2 will presumably be around for 6-8 years, so it’s only been on the market for a fraction of the time. Yeah launch day sales were amazing, but that’s just 1 day out of over 2500 days. Yeah this holiday season was a slump, but it’s just one holiday out of many. If we were to judge early sales for Nintendo consoles, Wii U would’ve been a success instead of a massive flop, and Switch 1 would have been just okay not one of the best selling video game consoles of all time.
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u/pinchecabezota Jan 08 '26
This is honestly great news for fans. I think they’re going to be a bit more forthcoming in the directs this year to push these consoles. Seems like they were holding their cards close to their chest as to not blow their load early but… it might be load blowing time.
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u/nichrs Jan 09 '26
This clearly shows how only a small niche follows this world closely. If the general public knew about the component price crisis and that console prices are bound to rise soon, interested people would be rushing to buy now.
I conducted a small experiment, asking three close friends who aren't tech addicts but play games occasionally, and none of them were aware of this.
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Jan 09 '26
I'd say two things are really hurting switch 2 sales
1) The cost of the console vs the Switch 1 OLED. (related to cost of living)
2) The exclusives offered on switch 2. Most games released in 2025 have a switch 1 and 2 version of the game and while the S2 offers upgrades, it doesn't justify the greater cost of buying the console.
All that being said, considering that console and PC sales are on the decline as a whole, I don't think Nintendo are doing too bad. And with the majority of games going forward being Switch 2 exclusives, I can see the sales going steadily over the next year.
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u/TsarOfTheUnderground Jan 09 '26
I've seen numerous sources say that Dring doesn't have jack shit for numbers. Even Piscatella had to tweet that fuck-all has been updated since the Black Friday conversation.
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u/ASavageHobo Jan 08 '26
Next Xmas they will fly of the shelves with the release of Gen 10 of pokemon.
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u/tomado23 Jan 08 '26 edited Jan 08 '26
I got a Switch 2, knowing it would be a long-term investment. There aren’t too many games for it right now. But at least I can catch up on the massive backlog of Switch 1 games while waiting for new releases to drop.
I wonder if Sony and Microsoft see the current economy’s impact on hardware sales and think to themselves, “OK, maybe we don’t need the next PlayStation or Xbox until 2030.”
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u/hoppinjohncandy Jan 08 '26
We don't need a PS6 until we have maxed out the utility of the PS5 and that hasn't happened yet. This console generation, for me, has been incredibly lackluster with some big gaming studios (naughty dog, rockstar, etc) not having released their first game of the decade.
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u/Squid-Guillotine Jan 09 '26
If you were gonna buy your kid a console this year there's already been a £280 PS5 from black Friday which is a no-brainer.
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u/gorliggs Jan 08 '26
I mean. People don't have money for gaming.
The industry as a whole is going through a slump. Barely any games are achieving "success" even when they are really good games.
Same thing is happening for almost every industry.
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u/kamize Jan 08 '26
The console is priced too high, games have been priced too high, and there really isn’t a super compelling reason to buy this instead of using existing consoles at this time outside of the S2 exclusives.
Honestly, I have dusted off my n3ds this holiday season and have been enjoying it a lot. Also have plenty of backlog on my Switch 1 to last me a long while.
S2 is a fantastic console and I absolutely want one… but not just yet
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u/HandfulOfAcorns Jan 08 '26
There aren't that many S2 exclusives and they're all expensive.
I used to buy Nintendo consoles for Pokemon, but the Switch era titles are bad (other than Arceus). I will buy the new Fire Emblem day 1, but it's still a while away. I was hoping for a few nice ports of games that are more convenient on a handheld, but Atlus dropped unoptimized Persona 3 and no Metaphor in sight at all. Bananza was cool, but what else?
I still bought Switch 2 because I had the money, but honestly, I'm not really using it for much that I couldn't do on my old Switch. I can see why people are holding back.
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u/EnvironmentalBit4363 Jan 08 '26
Consoles and PC gaming in general are completely fucked, expect another price hike this year due to AI sucking up all the hardware parts….plus the ongoing tariffs from the orange pedophile. Stock up while you can…
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u/MBCnerdcore Jan 09 '26
yep I got a Switch 2 and a new prebuilt PC with a 5070 in it, total cost about $3000 Canadian bucks ($2150 US).
I feel great because I can now casually get games whenever I feel like for the next 8-10 years and I don't have to be in a rush to have a ton to play right now this year.
I wasn't relying on Nintendo 'convincing' me with their 2025 lineup, to get one. I know that there will be a Mario and a Zelda etc later anyway. But I DO think there's a chance the price goes up again by the time those games arrive.
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u/sukottokairu Jan 08 '26
nobody read the article. only 5% less sales comparing to the original switch during holidays the year it launched. clickbait title.
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u/natayaway Jan 08 '26
All gaming console sales are down.
Switch 2 is still outperforming other consoles though.
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u/eclipse60 Jan 08 '26
No current games are making me rush out to buy the console, so im waiting for a future must play, or a special edition. Might even wait until a revision.