Switch vs PS4 Sales Comparison - July 2021 - Sales
by William D'Angelo , posted on 01 September 2021 / 4,735 Views
The VGChartz sales comparison series of articles are updated monthly and each one focuses on a different sales comparison using our estimated video game hardware figures. The charts include comparisons between the PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and Nintendo Switch, as well as with older platforms. There are articles based on our worldwide estimates, as well as the US, Europe, and Japan.
This monthly series compares the aligned worldwide sales of the Nintendo Switch and the PlayStation 4.
The PlayStation 4 launched in November 2013, while the Nintendo Switch launched worldwide in March 2017. Therefore, the holiday periods for the two consoles do not lineup, which is why there are big increases and decreases.
Switch Vs. PS4 Global:
Gap change in latest month: 259,640 - Switch
Gap change over last 12 months: 7,466,739 - Switch
Total Lead: 11,508,604 - Switch
Switch Total Sales: 89,022,722
PS4 Total Sales: 77,514,118
July 2021 is the 53rd month that the Nintendo Switch has been available for. During the latest month, the gap grew in favor of the Switch by 259,640 units when compared to the PlayStation 4 during the same timeframe. In the last 12 months, the Switch has outsold the PlayStation 4 by 7.47 million units. The Switch is currently ahead of the PlayStation 4 by 11.51 million units.
The 53rd month on sale for the Nintendo Switch is July 2021, while for the PlayStation 4 it is March 2018. The Switch has sold 88.02 million units, while the PlayStation 4 sold 77.51 million units during the same timeframe. The PlayStation 4 did not reach current Switch sales until month 62 where it sold 91.81 million units.
The PlayStation 4 has sold 116.30 million units through July 2021. The Nintendo Switch is currently 27.28 million units behind the lifetime sales of the PlayStation 4.
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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At this rate, Switch will soon have a one-year lead over the PS4
It will. There are 22 weeks left till the end of this year (counting from the beginning of August). In that time PS4 numbers will increase by an additional 5M units and if the NS repeats last year's success, it will sell an additional 15M. That gives the total lead of 21.5M, which is more than PS4s peak year. Even if NS sells half of 2020s units in the same period of time, the gap will be wider than PS4s 2019 sales.
I really hope the Switch smashes this; not because I dislike PS (I love my PS4 - genuinely my favourite PS console and still being used almost daily) but because after the absolute failure of WiiU, I want the world and Nintendo themselves to really remember what makes Nintendo so special in the first place: incredible games. I genuinely feel some of the magic would be lost if Mario, Zelda, Pokémon et al were only playable on PS or Microsoft.
I think they already proved the point though. If not a single switch sold from now on, they already would have a 90 million unit seller in a 4.5 year span.
But pretty much nothing can stop the switch from outselling the ps4 at this point unless Nintendo shockingly released a successor next year. Definitely not going to happen until at least 2024.
And even if it fell short of 120 million, which is nearly impossible, the point is still proven.
So don't worry, no one is going to be doubting Nintendo at least until/if they come out with another poorly selling system. Cube/Wii could have been a fluke. But now it's cube/Wii and Wii u/switch. Nintendo officially has a trend of recovering from poor sales. The Nintendoom stories should be a thing of the last, but sensational articles grab eyeballs. I don't think most people legitimately believe that stuff.
It wouldn't have gyro aiming on Xbox. So instantly not as good in my opinion. Better framerates would be nice, but it's not worth it if you lose a key feature. At least Sony keeps including gyro even if they never use it.
Almost 12M lead to second bestselling home console in history. And the gap will only widen by the end of this year.
The Switch is over 20,000,000 units behind the PS2 in North America. It won't catch up there. Sure the Switch is super popular in Japan (though perhaps beaten by the Game Boy and DS), but home consoles like the PS5 and Xbox are much more popular in Europe and North America. I know MANY 20-30 year old gamers that don't even consider the Switch, it is mostly being bought for children at this point. You can't buy the PS5 and the Xbox on shelves, that is still the largest problem.
Xbox is not more popular than the Switch anywhere in the world. Europe is not even close and while Xbox has the potential to compete with the switch in North America, its almost guaranteed that Xbox SX won't come close to Switch's lifetime sales in NA. The Xbox 360 had everything going for it and the Switch has the potential of outselling it in NA, the Xbox SX won't come close to 360's dominance.
The only region wear PS5 will likely win against the Switch is Europe. Outside of that in NA the Switch will likely outsell it and its not even a competition in Japan.
Also, do you have any proof the Switch is mostly being purchased by children? Most data that has come out regarding the demographics of Switch players being majority adults or at least mixed demographics. No different from the people Xbox & PS is appealing to.
Its possible for the Switch to reach PS2's numbers in North America, the Switch at the rate its going in the U.S is on pace to sell around 50 Million.
I would still love a 12 TFLOPs RTX 3060 based Nintendo home console. Give us the same Xbox Series X performance.
