Nintendo Switch Is the Best-Selling Console For Almost Two Years Straight

It’s hard to overstate just what an incredible year Nintendo is having with the Nintendo Switch. The Kyoto-based company has reported its strongest October sales yet for the console after announcing more than 735,000 Switch and Switch Lites sold. This is a 136% increase year-over-year. According to NPD, Nintendo has achieved the second-highest October sales of any video game console in history, second only to the Wii in October 2008. In a year where two new consoles from Xbox and PlayStation just debuted, Nintendo has recorded the best-selling video game console for 23 straight months. “Nintendo Switch and Nintendo Switch Lite continue to provide one-of-a-kind gaming experiences on the TV or on the go, allowing holiday shoppers the choice of a video game system that matches their lifestyle,” Nintendo of America president Doug Bowser said in a statement. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=the-top-25-switch-games-fall-2020-update&captions=true"] The strength of the Nintendo Switch, especially in 2020, has allowed the company to raise its profit forecasts from 300 billion yen to 450 billion, a 50% increase. The Switch has surpassed the lifetime sales of the NES, and there’s no indication that these numbers will slow over the holidays. “Seeing encouraging sales growth like this in the fourth October of Nintendo Switch proves to us that the system has many more years and great games to come,” Bowser added. The Switch hardware has been buoyed by a killer app released earlier this year you might recognize. Animal Crossing: New Horizons, which has now sold 26.04 million copies in just six months. Animal Crossing: New Horizons is now the second best-selling Switch game behind only Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2019/09/26/nintendo-switch-lite-review"] Amidst rumors that Nintendo is considering an upgraded Switch model sometime in the future, the company’s fortunes with the current Switch and the Switch Lite appear to be just fine. A more in-depth analysis will be provided when NPD releases their October 2020 report Friday morning. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Matt T.M. Kim is a reporter for IGN.