Wii's total sales in the US have just been surpassed by the Nintendo Switch.
Nintendo Switch hybrid handheld-console combo has pulled off a stunt that's making even Mario do a double jump. Nintendo Switch achieved an incredible feat of surpassing the mighty Wii in terms of overall sales in the United States in its six-year journey in the console market. Sales of the Switch have been boosted by The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom.
Being able to catch up to the Nintendo Wii is no easy task. It ranks among the top-selling consoles of all time with global sales of more than 100 million units. As part of Nintendo's "blue ocean strategy," it was successful because players who did not identify as traditional gamers found its motion controls to be appealing.
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, sold over 18 million copies by the end of June 2023 and boosted console sales. It is credited to the data for the Switch's strong performance this year. Its success can also be attributed to the ease with which Nintendo's hybrid console and other consoles are now available.
The latest data, which come from Circana, formerly known as NPD (thanks to gamesindustry.biz), indicate the rapid expansion of the American video game market over the past year, particularly in terms of hardware. Circana claims that the Switch is not only catching up to other well-liked previous-gen consoles, but it also outsold the Wii's overall July 2023 U.S. sales total. It is less than a million units and less than five million units behind the Xbox 360 and PS2, respectively.
While the Switch is stealing the spotlight, let's not forget its companions in the gaming world. Sony's PlayStation 5 (PS5) is rocking the sales charts, surpassing the numbers of its predecessors—the PS4 and the PS3—by 5% and a whopping 87% respectively. Sales of the Xbox Series X|S are 6% higher compared to that of the Xbox 360, but 10% lower than those of the Xbox One.
Nintendo stated that over 129.5 million Switch hardware units were sold worldwide, but only 49 million of those were sold in the Americas. Circana did not provide an exact number for Switch hardware sales in the U.S. The Switch has sold more units in its first six years than the Wii has in its entire ten-year history, which is still astonishing.