Nintendo Switch Outsells PlayStation 3 Worldwide - Sales
by William D'Angelo , posted on 01 July 2021 / 7,342 Views
The Nintendo Switch has outsold the lifetime sales of the PlayStation 3, according to VGChartz estimates.
The Switch sold 375,106 units for the week ending June 19, 2021 to bring its lifetime sales to 87.43 million units. This compares to the PlayStation 3 with sales of 87.40 million units. The figure for the Switch includes the combined sales of the original Switch model and the Switch Lite.
Nintendo's hybrid console has now become the seventh best-selling video game platform of all time. Next up is the Nintendo Wii at 101.63 million units, the PlayStation at 102.49 million units, then the PlayStation 4, which has sold an estimated 115.73 million units to date.
The Switch is 14.20 million units away from the Nintendo Wii, and 15.06 million units away from the PlayStation. It is also 28.30 million units away from the PlayStation 4.
Breaking down the sales of the Switch, it has sold 29.73 million units in the US, 22.72 million units in Europe, and 20.34 million units in Japan. Breaking down sales in Europe even further, it has sold 4.39 million units in the UK, 5.68 million in France, and 4.55 million in Germany.
Shipment figures for the Nintendo Switch reached 84.59 million units as of March 31, 2021, while 587.12 million Switch games had been shipped lifetime.
Here is a list of the top 10 best-selling Nintendo Switch games, according to Nintendo's shipment figures through March 31, 2021:
- Mario Kart 8 Deluxe – 35.39 million
- Animal Crossing: New Horizons – 32.63 million
- Super Smash Bros. Ultimate – 23.84 million
- The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild – 22.28 million
- Pokemon Sword / Pokemon Shield – 21.10 million
- Super Mario Odyssey – 20.83 million
- Super Mario Party – 14.79 million
- Pokemon: Let’s Go, Pikachu! / Pokemon: Let’s Go, Eevee! – 13.28 million
- Splatoon 2 – 12.21 million
- New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe – 10.44 million
The Switch launched worldwide on March 3, 2017, while the PlayStation 3 launched in Japan on November 11, 2006, in North America on November 17, 2006, in Europe on March 23, 2007.
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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Switch passes its first Playstation home console, and it will not be last
It'll outsell the original PlayStation most likely by the end of the year.
Most definitely. I think the real emotional milestone though will be crossing the Wii - Nintendo's own best-selling console. I think at this point, even not knowing when/if a "New" Switch will release - it's a forgone conclusion that eventually the Switch will outsell the PS4 as well. Only question is: can it reach the big dog PS2 and Nintendo DS levels???
Quite emotional for me! I am Nintendo fanboy but for the last four gens I’ve owned both N and PS. They’re both out of this world and I had awesome times with the PS3, but my god - Ninty made a comeback and a half and it ain’t over yet! Love you PS3, god speed NS, keep surprising us
Wii and PS1 by the end of the year!
If instead of a "Switch 2" Nintendo release a meaningful mid gen refresh and milk that shit until 2024-5.....Ow man it could be the best selling console of all time....
Amazing that the possibility of the Switch challenging the PS2 is even a thing.
Based on Nintendo's repeated comments about extending Switch's lifespan, this seems like a possibility.
There's also the fact that we have big games coming next year like BOTW 2, Mario+Rabbids and Splatoon 3. If they release a Switch 2 too soon, it would take too long for the system to get these kinds of games.
Switch 1 succeeded in part due to big games releasing year 1 (BOTW, MK8 DX, Mario Odyssey, Splatoon 2, etc.).
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, a derivation from the 2014 Wii U game, has sold 35 million copies. Mind blown. Can we get a new entry in the franchise please? It's been forever!
At this point it's either going to be a late switch release with a deluxe version on switch 2 or else, yes, no mk9 until the switch 2.
I'd love like 8 new tracks for free to celebrate the anniversary/40 million in sales. I'm guessing those will coincide. Why not celebrate them in a way that will sell more units/get lapsed players back to playing?
Probably won't happen though. Lol.
Can't another Mario Kart being a late Switch release. Doing a deluxe version for MK8 worked because MK8 was released on their lowest selling system. They'd be better off making the next Mario Kart exclusive to the next system. If the next system is backwards compatible (it really should be), maybe there could be some sort of bonus for having MK7 DX data?
They should definitely add another row of characters and 2-4 cups, though I think it should mostly be prior MK characters and retro cups. There should be new stuff as well, but most of the big new stuff (other Nintendo characters, third party characters, etc.) should be saved for the next game so that it can be a guaranteed success.
Makes sense that they haven't done anything yet because MK8 DX's sales have actually increased each year. No need to add fuel to an already raging fire just yet.
what if the ps3 was priced the same as the switch since launch?
What an accomplishment.
The last paragraph refers to X360 instead of PS3 ^^
Alright next week time for bubbly!
