In France, the Switch is now the most popular home console of all time thanks to a new sales record that has just beaten the one long held by the Wii. Via many generalist French media such as AFP or Le Figaro, Nintendo has therefore communicated some figures on this new success.
At least 1 in 10 French people have a Nintendo Switch in their living room
It’s no secret that the Switch has been a hit in France since its release in 2017. Just look at the SELL figures each week for the best game sales to see that the machine’s flagship titles are still present at the alongside the big releases of the moment among the competition (and which never stay on the podium for very long).
So we learn the Switch has sold more than 7 million copies since its launch, thus surpassing the Wii and its 6.3 million. We are of course talking about home consoles because the Nintendo DS remains Nintendo’s biggest success here with 10.6 million portable consoles on our soil. Thanks to the statements of Phillipe Lavoué, general manager of Nintendo France, we also learn that just‘in 2022, the Switch sold almost 1 million copies: ” We sold 987,000 Switches in 2022, which is the best performance on the market. One out of two consoles sold in France last year was a Switch.
It must be said that the year 2022 was particularly rich in big successful games, if only with Pokemon Legends Arceus and especially Pokemon Scarlet and Purple. The ultimate game for everyoneNintendo Switch Sports also did very well with us with 425,000 sales since its release. Apart from the usual successes (Animal Crossing New Horizons or Mario Kart 8), there are very good performances for Spaltoon 3, Mario Strikers and Kirby and the Forgotten World.
To sum up, you should know that 10.5% of the French population owns a Switch at home while of the ten best-selling games this year, nine are Switch titles (the odd one out being FIFA 23 on PS4).
We imagine that Nintendo will not stop there with other large cartridges arriving this year. We think, for example, of Fire Emblem Engage which arrives in a few days or The Legend of Zelda Tears: of Kingdom which is scheduled for May 12. We also do not forget the film Mario in the cinema which is particularly awaited and which will potentially open the way to other adaptations if success is at the rendezvous.