In France, the Nintendo Switch console surpassed the Wii’s sales record

Broken record, so far. With 7.09 million copies sold in France since its release in 2017, the Nintendo Switch surpasses the performance of the Nintendo Wii, which for ten years held the title of best-selling console in our country (excluding portable consoles). With motion recognition controllers and accessible games, the Wii was a huge success and introduced video games to a wide audience. It has passed in France to 6.3 million copies. Sony’s very popular PlayStation 4 has an installed base of 6 million machines.

The Switch sales curve passed over the Wii during 2022, in France as the rest of the world. And even though the console is approaching its sixth year on the market, its appeal remains intact. “We sold 987,000 Switches in 2022, which is the best performance on the market. One of two consoles sold in France last year was the Switch“, said Philippe Lavoué, general manager of Nintendo France.

The rest of the market was hampered by recurring shortages of the Sony PlayStation 5 and Microsoft Xbox Series, which sold in small volumes and were slightly below demand from French consumers. Sony promises a significant improvement in this situation by 2023, which should redistribute the card.

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Success for Nintendo Switch Sports

Nearly a quarter of French households are now equipped with one or more Switches. The new buyer profile consists of half families with children, and half young adults. “We have a desire to constantly conquer new audiences, beyond our fans» continued Philippe Lavoué.

Nintendo in particular took advantage of World Cup matches, a key audience crossroads, to broadcast TV commercials for the Pokémon Purple/Scarlet games and most notably Nintendo Switch Sports. The spot features the couple formed by video game influencer Michou and dancer Elsa Bois, who is popular with teenagers.

This successor to the smash hit Wii Sports, in which you can face your loved ones in sports mini-games using the console controller’s gesture recognition, has also benefited from several hundred commercial events throughout France, in hypermarkets and a large cultural area. “It’s important, post-Covid, to get back to basics and put our products in the hands of consumers. And this demonstration was carried out by enthusiasts“, pointed out the director of Nintendo France.

Zelda and the Ambushed Mario Movie

Nintendo Switch Sports’ efforts have borne fruit, with 425,000 physical versions sold – Nintendo did not communicate sales in digital format. It is the fourth best commercial performance for Nintendo in 2022, behind Pokémon Purple/Scarlet (701,000 sales), Pokémon Arceus (575,000) and the immortal Mario Kart 8, released in 2017 (445,000). “More than half of Switch owners have bought Mario Kart 8“, emphasized Philippe Lavoué. These titles will appear in the top grossing video game rankings of 2022, which will be unveiled sometime in March by the Syndicate of Video Game Publishers (SELL).

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Between the highly anticipated game Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, scheduled for May 15, and the release of the 3D animated film in April Super Mario: Movies, 2023 looks promising for Japanese companies. “We are currently planning highlights around the release of Super Mario: The Movie, but everything is still under wraps», pointed out Philippe Lavoué. Box office success should automatically translate into more sales for the Switch and games featuring the famous Italian plumber.

Nintendo game sales in France in 2022 (excluding digital sales)

Pokémon Purple and Scarlet: 701,000 sales

Pokémon Arceus: 575,000 sales

Mario Kart 8: 445,000 sales

Nintendo Switch Sports: 425,000 sales

Mario Strikers: 264,000 sales

Splatoon 3: 254,000 sales

Animal Crossing New Horizons: 253,000 sales

Kirby and the Forgotten World: 214,000 sales