Nintendo Switch 2 Hits 18M Units in First Year

Nintendo’s Switch 2 just crossed 18 million lifetime sales — making it the fastest-selling Nintendo console ever and outpacing the original Switch’s first-year run.

The 18M figure is roughly 24% ahead of the original Switch’s first-year pace and 41% ahead of the Wii at the same point. The Mario Kart World pack-in is doing the heavy lifting at retail, while Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom Director’s Cut and a refreshed Splatoon 4 sustain weekly attach rates above 70%.

The interesting question for PC players: Switch 2’s success has expanded the cross-platform development incentive. Multiple publishers have now reorganized internal teams to ship Switch 2 + PC simultaneously rather than treating Switch as the late port. That changes the PC release calendar in ways that quietly favor PC players too.