The latest financial results from Nintendo include updated Switch 2 sales figures, but the biggest news is the Switch 1 breaking two world records.
Despite the Nintendo Switch 2 selling like hotcakes, quickly cementing itself as Nintendo’s fastest-selling console ever, it’s still got a hard task ahead of it to outsell the original Switch.
New stats from Nintendo show it only sold 3.25 million units through the months of April to December 2025, which is 66% less than it managed in the same period in 2024 and far less than the 17.37 million the Switch 2’s managed. But then it is almost nine years old at this point.
Those 3.25 million units were significant, though, as they’ve brought the Switch 1’s lifetime sales up to 155.37 million units. This means it is both Nintendo’s best-selling console of all time and the second best-selling console in history.
The Switch 1’s continued popularity always meant there was a good chance it would surpass the Nintendo DS, which was the previous record holder at 154.02 million lifetime sales.
Nintendo’s financial results for its third quarter of the 2026 fiscal year (October to December 2025) also highlight that by the end of 2025, the original Switch had 129 million players.
Expert, exclusive gaming analysis
Sign up to the GameCentral newsletter for a unique take on the week in gaming, alongside the latest reviews and more. Delivered to your inbox every Saturday morning.
That’s only barely less than the 130 million it had in 2024 and the first instance of the console’s player count decreasing since its 2017 launch, which has otherwise increased each year.
While Nintendo has previously insisted it wouldn’t abandon the Switch 1 after the Switch 2’s launch, these figures show why that is – and why the console continues to be supported by third party publishers.
In fact, Nintendo still has a few dedicated Switch 1 games in the pipeline, with Tomodachi Life: Living The Dream, Rhythm Paradise Groove, and Pokémon Champions – all of which are scheduled for this year and will run on Switch 2 through backwards compatability.
Everything else on Nintendo’s release schedule this year is a Switch 2 exclusive, with no mention of any cross-gen titles like Pokémon Legends: Z-A and Metroid Prime 4: Beyond.
It’s possible more Switch 1 announcements will be shared in a future Nintendo Direct, although the next one – which is rumoured for this Thursday – is believed to focus on third party games rather than Nintendo’s own titles.
The other question on everyone’s minds is whether the Switch 1 will overtake the PlayStation 2 and steal its spot as the best-selling console of all time. Although technically it already has.
Originally, Sony’s own figures put the PlayStation 2 at 155 million units sold, which the Switch 1 has now exceeded. However, former PlayStation boss Jim Ryan later claimed, as the Switch 1’s total began to get close, that the PlayStation 2’s sales were actually more than 160 million, with Sony officially recognising that figure in November 2024 as part of a 30th anniversary update.
This lack of a concrete figure gives it some leeway even if the Switch 1 manages to break the 160 million sales mark and that’s assuming Sony doesn’t move the goalposts again.
Don’t miss Gaming news! Add us as a Preferred Source
As a loyal GameCentral reader, we want to make sure you never miss our articles when searching for gaming stories. We have all the latest video games news, reviews, previews, and interviews, with a vibrant community of highly engaged readers.
Click here and tick Metro.co.uk to ensure you see stories from us first in Google Search.
It may not be a problem though, since if Switch 1 sales continue to drop then it may not reach 160 million anyway. Nintendo’s expecting to have only sold four million Switch 1’s by the end of the 2026 fiscal year, which is 63% less than the 10.8 million it sold the previous year.
Elsewhere in Nintendo’s financials, it has shared updated sales figures for its 2025 releases. Mario Kart World unsurprisingly remains the Switch 2’s best seller at 14.03 million units, with Donkey Kong Bananza coming in second at 4.25 million units.
Pokémon Legends: Z-A, meanwhile, has sold a collective 12.3 million units across both versions, though most of that can be attributed to the Switch 1 and its larger player base. The Switch 1 version sold 8.41 million units compared to the Switch 2 version’s 3.89 million.
Email gamecentral@metro.co.uk, leave a comment below, follow us on Twitter.
To submit Inbox letters and Reader’s Features more easily, without the need to send an email, just use our Submit Stuff page here.
For more stories like this, check our Gaming page.
