The Nintendo Switch will likely outsell the PlayStation 2 in the US.
That’s according to Mat Piscatella, a video game industry analyst at Circana. In a message to X / TwitterPiscatella wrote: “In the US, the PS5 is still 7% ahead of the PS4 LTD, and the Switch is only 1.1 million units behind the PlayStation 2 in total sales.”
He adds that things aren’t looking too bad for the Xbox Series consoles either, saying that they’re “staying close to the Xbox 360’s LTD pace (and getting a CF25 boost).” In a follow-up post, Piscatella hints that this is likely an interesting conversation to “come back to in a few weeks.”
The Nintendo Switch’s move to surpass the PS2 in the U.S. in terms of lifetime sales is consistent with Nintendo’s recently released Q1 2024 financial results. As of June 30, the Nintendo Switch family of consoles has collectively shifted around 143.42 million units worldwide. This isn’t far off from the PS2’s global lifetime sales, which are reported to be around 155-160 million units.
Nintendo Switch hardware sales may be declining (as evidenced by its Q1 2024 financial results), but it’s clear that the console has had extraordinary staying power since its launch in March 2017.
It seems that the Kyoto manufacturer wants to continue supporting the Switch for some time to come, even though the provisional name Nintendo Switch 2 is expected next year.
For example, Metroid Prime 4 Next was eventually revealed during the June 18th Nintendo Direct, set for a release on Nintendo Switch in 2025. This has led many to speculate that it could be a cross-platform launch title, much like The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild was in 2017, when that game also came out for the Wii U.