Nintendo Switch 2 has set a new record by enjoying the biggest launch week of any games hardware in US history.
The record, previously held by thePS4, has been smashed byNintendo’s console, which sold 1.1 millionNintendo Switchunits in the US during its first week on sale.
In the US, almost 80% of players who purchased aNintendo Switch 2also purchasedMario Kart World, either as a standalone physical game or as part of the hardware bundle, which included the game as a pack-in title.
According toCircanadata, the three best-selling physical games during the Switch 2’s launch week were Mario Kart World,Cyberpunk 2077, andThe Legend of Zelda: Tears of the KingdomNintendo Switch 2 Edition.
The success story of the Nintendo Switch 2 is much the same inJapan, where it has enjoyed a huge launch.
Famitsuhas published hardware sales data for the week ended June 8, which covers Switch 2’s first four days on sale in Japan, revealing that some 947,931 consoles were sold.
More impressively, this data is unlikely to include sales on Nintendo’s official My Nintendo Store, which would almost certainly take Switch 2’s Japanese debut to over 1 million units.
The sales figure means Switch 2 is, by far, the biggest console launch in Japan. According tothe Game Data Library, a site that archives Japanese sales data from various sources (including Famitsu), the previous fastest-selling console in Japan was thePlayStation 2, withjust over 630,000 units sold.
Earlier this week,Nintendo announced that Switch 2 had sold 3.5 million units globallyin its first four days on sale, making it the fastest-selling Nintendo system ever, and likely the biggest ever console launch.
In comparison,PlayStation 5shipped (not sold)3.4 million units in its first four weekson sale, and4.5 million in its first seven weeks, thoughSony’s console suffered from significant stock shortages.
The huge start for Switch 2 will give Nintendo a boost in reaching its target of 15 million units for its first business year – or even beating this number, which many analysts predict the console will do.
