The Switch now trails only the Nintendo DS, which sold 154.02 million units, and the PlayStation 2, which sold 159 million units, after surpassing 122.55 million units.
The number was made public in Nintendo’s third quarter earnings report, along with the news that 994.30 million Switch software units have now been sold.
Despite the staggering number, which is an increase of eight million from November, Switch sales fell by 21.3% from 2021, when it sold 18.95 million units in the first three quarters compared to 2022’s 14.91 million units. 5.22 million of these were Nintendo Switch models one and two, 7.69 million were OLED models, and 2 million were Nintendo Switch Lite models.
However, Nintendo pointed out that 2021 saw the launch of the OLED Model, which could be a reason for increased sales. Nintendo acknowledged that the impact of semiconductor and other component shortages, which have dogged the hardware market for the last two years, were resolved for this holiday season.
Pokémon Scarlet and Violet have sold 18 million copies, moving into the top ten best-selling games for the Switch ever, according to Nintendo’s earnings report.