The Nintendo Switch has defied expectations and continues going strong nearly seven years after its launch. In fact, Nintendo recently increased its sales forecast for the popular console to 15.5 million units for the current fiscal year. This revision comes on the heels of a profitable third quarter where Nintendo’s net sales and profits exceeded projections.
While third quarter sales were down 6% year-over-year, several games both new and old seem to be fueling additional Switch purchases. The October release of Super Mario Bros. Wonder has already sold nearly 12 million copies. And the April debut of The Super Mario Bros. Movie in theaters sparked renewed interest in evergreen titles like Mario Kart 8 Deluxe as well as upcoming 2023 titles like the hotly anticipated The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom.
As longtime fans continue to enjoy the Switch, Nintendo has reportedly been secretly showing off its successor console to developers behind closed doors. Insiders got a glimpse of this still unnamed “Switch 2” at last August’s Gamescom convention. Demos of an enhanced version of Breath of the Wild hinted at the new console’s capabilities – higher frame rates and resolution surpassing even the PS5 and Xbox Series X, ray tracing support, and NVIDIA upscaling tech.
The Switch 2 will eventually launch into a far more competitive landscape than its predecessor. But for now, the enduring popularity of the original Switch keeps rising to new heights. More than halfway through its life cycle, Nintendo’s hybrid console shows no signs of slowing down.
