Nintendo Switch was 87% of Japan’s console sales in 2020

It’s no secret that the Nintendo Switch has been selling gangbusters. During 2020, it was nearly impossible to find a Switch console on the shelf at a retail store and most online retailers were sold out as well. The situation in Japan was no different, with Nintendo selling ~6 million Nintendo Switch consoles last year. To put that into perspective, that is an increase of 30% from the Switch’s sales in 2019.

That is insanity, but it does make sense when you take into consideration the current state of the world. The pandemic has kept many people at home for extended periods of time and with less in person socializing happening, playing games together online seems like a no brainer.

The Nintendo Switch sold 87% of all console sales in Japan for the entire year of 2020 GamesIndustry.biz reports. This was broken down to 3.9 million units of the base Switch system and 2 million of the Switch Lite.

Another big reason for the massive success that the Switch has seen in Japan is due in part to Animal Crossing New Horizons. ACNH sold nearly 6.5 million copies since it released in March of 2020. The 2nd place best seller in Japan for Switch titles is Ring Fit Adventure, which released in 2019.

Switch sales are expected to continue to pour in as we move forward into 2021, even with both the PS5 and Xbox series X having recently been released. The Nintendo Switch is still on track to being Nintendo’s best selling console of all time.