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Nintendo Switch Outsells Original Xbox

Nintendo Switch Outsells Original Xbox - Sales

by William D'Angelo , posted on 03 February 2019 / 14,120 Views

The Nintendo Switch has outsold the lifetime sales of the original Xbox, according to our estimates.

The Nintendo Switch sold 792,344 units for the week ending December 1, 2018 to bring its lifetime sales to 24.92 million units. This compares to the original Xbox with sales of 24.65 million units. 

 

Breaking down Switch sales by region, it sold 9.64 million units in North America, 6.73 million units in Europe, 5.83 million units in Japan, and 2.72 million units in the rest of the world. The Xbox sold 15.77 million units in North America, 7.17 million units in Europe, 0.53 million units in Japan, and 1.18 million units in the rest of the world.

The best-selling Switch game at retail is Super Mario Odyssey with 10.49 million units sold through November 10 and climbing, while Halo 2 was the best-selling Xbox game with 8.49 million units sold.

78.22 million Switch games have been sold at retail through November 10, while 271.46 million Xbox games were shipped during its lifetime. Digital sales weren't a factor on the original Xbox in the early 2000's, however, the digital market is now a large percentage of software sales.

 

Here is the list of the top 10 best-selling Switch games to date:

PosGameYearGenrePublisherNorth AmericaEuropeJapanRest of WorldGlobal
1. Super Mario Odyssey 2017 Platform Nintendo 4.57 3.23 1.95 0.75 10.49
2. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe 2017 Racing Nintendo 3.66 3.69 1.92 0.66 9.95
3. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2017 Action-Adventure Nintendo 4.01 2.60 1.18 0.64 8.44
4. Splatoon 2 2017 Shooter Nintendo 1.75 1.49 2.85 0.30 6.39
5. Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle 2017 Strategy Ubisoft 0.91 0.94 0.22 0.17 2.23
6. 1-2-Switch 2017 Party Nintendo 0.54 1.03 0.48 0.13 2.18
7. Arms 2017 Fighting Nintendo 0.81 0.44 0.45 0.12 1.83
8. Kirby 2018 Platform Nintendo 0.63 0.32 0.66 0.10 1.70
9. Pokken Tournament 2017 Fighting Nintendo 0.74 0.43 0.31 0.12 1.59
10. Xenoblade Chronicles 2 2017 Role-Playing Nintendo 0.46 0.44 0.23 0.08 1.22

 

Here is the list of the top 10 best-selling Xbox games:

PosGameYearGenrePublisherNorth AmericaEuropeJapanRest of WorldGlobal
1. Halo 2 2004 Shooter Microsoft Game Studios 6.82 1.53 0.05 0.08 8.49
2. Halo 2001 Shooter Microsoft 4.98 1.30 0.08 0.07 6.43
3. Tom Clancy Splinter Cell 2002 Action Ubisoft 1.85 1.04 0.00 0.13 3.02
4. Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind 2002 Role-Playing Bethesda Softworks 2.09 0.63 0.03 0.11 2.86
5. Fable 2004 Role-Playing Microsoft Game Studios 1.99 0.58 0.00 0.09 2.66
6. Grand Theft Auto Double Pack 2003 Action Rockstar Games 1.84 0.56 0.00 0.09 2.49
7. Need for Speed: Underground 2 2004 Racing Electronic Arts 1.38 0.80 0.00 0.10 2.28
8. Star Wars: Knights of the Republic 2003 Role-Playing LucasArts 1.68 0.44 0.00 0.08 2.19
9. Project Gotham Racing 2001 Racing Microsoft 1.37 0.61 0.05 0.09 2.12
10. Project Gotham 2002 Racing Microsoft 1.54 0.44 0.04 0.07 2.10

A life-long and avid gamer, William D'Angelo was first introduced to VGChartz in 2007. After years of supporting the site, he was brought on in 2010 as a junior analyst, working his way up to lead analyst in 2012. He has expanded his involvement in the gaming community by producing content on his own YouTube channel and Twitch channel dedicated to gaming Let's Plays and tutorials. You can contact the author at wdangelo@vgchartz.com or on Twitter @TrunksWD.


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7 Comments
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SuperNintend0rk (on 19 December 2018)

Very interesting to see the differences in the regional breakdown. The Switch is still quite far behind in NA sales.

  • +4
Mnementh SuperNintend0rk (on 20 December 2018)

Indeed. 9.6M vs. 15.8M is a lot. But Switch is selling well, so over time it will get there too.

  • 0
SuperNintend0rk SuperNintend0rk (on 20 December 2018)

Yeah definitely. The Switch has much more even sales across the world, which is far more important than selling a lot in one region.

  • +1
PAOerfulone (on 19 December 2018)

Should pass the Atari 2600 & Sega Genesis by the end of the year. Maaaybe the Nintendo 64 depending on how stong and big its December is and how many units Smash Bros. can move.

  • +1
Soren0079 (on 19 December 2018)

Also Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze is 1.32 million on vgchartz but it's not in the top sellers list for some reason or another.

  • 0
SuperNintend0rk Soren0079 (on 20 December 2018)

I guess the VGChartz estimates must be pretty off for that game.

  • 0
aris4me (on 19 December 2018)

Next goal please, the train is not going to stop anywhere for the time being!

  • 0