Nintendo Switch was the best-selling console in the US across 2018, according to NDP numbers. Last we heard, Switch became the fastest selling console in the US of this generation while still short of its investor goals. However, it looks like it has landed on the top of the heap largely fueled by some amazing software numbers, despite the fact that it did not have the best-selling game of 2018. All the details are down below.
Reports put Nintendo Switch at 8.7 million units inside the US, which made it the fastest selling console of this generation over the 21-month period it’s been available. As far as this generation goes, it had a record-breaking year on top of an amazing holiday season that hasn’t been rivaled since 2010.
Best-Selling Console in the US
According to NDP Group, Nintendo Switch was the highest selling gaming console in the US across 2018. The annual unit and dollar figures are the highest we have seen since the PS4 back in 2015.
But the benchmark year was punctuated by a stellar holiday season as well. Switch generated the highest number of December sales of any gaming console since Nintendo dropped the ground-breaking Wii way back in 2006. Switch garnered the highest December unit sales for a single gaming platform since December of 2010.
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate for the Win
It wasn’t all hardware though. Nintendo brought in the most software revenue of the year among the big game makers. While largely anchored by Super Smash Bros. Ultimate — which was the 5th best selling game of the year and topped the charts in December — even some of its 2017 releases landed high up in last year’s charts.
The top few spots on the software chart were claimed by last year’s Call of Duty entry and NBA 2K19, while Rockstar’s Red Dead Redemption 2 led the pack as the best-selling game of 2018.
Either way it looks like the gaming business is in good shape. It may not be hitting the highs it was at back in 2011 with $17.4 billion in revenue, but overall spending did grow. Gamers spent around $16.7 billion across 2018.
Sony and Microsoft seem to be getting somewhat complacent with their commanding worldwide sales numbers lead this generation. And Nintendo’s continued success with stellar first-party games on top of the portable value proposition of its latest console likely helped it become the best-selling console in the US across 2018.
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