Nintendo Switch: 105 000 units sold in France, best console launch ever (all platforms)
The Wii U is by far one of the worst-selling Nintendo consoles ever, and so Nintendo must be pretty relieved to see the Nintendo Switch is doing much, much better.
In the United Kingdom, the console sold over 80 000 units during the launch week-end; in the United States, it outsold the Wii during the first two days (so more than 360 000 units), and became the fastest-selling Nintendo console at launch. And in Japan, over 330 000 units were sold at launch.
And in France, the Nintendo Switch is also breaking sales record. Nintendo announced today that 105 000 units were sold at launch, which is by far the best launch ever for a Nintendo platform in the country. In fact, it’s more than that… it’s the best launch ever for a video game console (including handhelds) in France, period.
As for The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, it was by far the most popular game with 95 000 units sold at launch. In other words, the vast majority of players bought this game along with their Nintendo Switch (attach rate: about 90%). If we add sales for the Wii U version, we end up at 130 000 units (so about 35 000 units for this version)
In a previous interview, Philippe Lavoué explained that Nintendo France was expecting to sell as many Nintendo Switch units at launch than the Wii back in 2006. In other words, 95 000 units. And that’s what they did, with 105 000 units sold at launch (Friday and Saturday, as most stores are closed on Sunday).
The company was also expecting near-100% attach rate for The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, and that’s exactly what happened. For the full year, Nintendo is expecting to sell more Nintendo Switch units than the Wii U since launch, so more than 832 000 units.
In Europe, the Nintendo Switch also sold more than any other Nintendo Hardware at launch (so at least 325 000 units). The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild also did extremely well: it’s become the best-selling Nintendo game at launch, even beating Wii Sports (which was bundled with the Wii, to boot).
Finally, Nintendo mentions that the Nintendo Switch was also the best-launch ever for Nintendo hardware in Germany. As for The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, it was the best debut for a Legend of Zelda game (not just the best-selling launch title for Nintendo).
Here’s a quick recap of sales for the Nintendo Switch worldwide:
- United States (best launch ever for a Nintendo console): +360 000 units
- Japan: ~330 000 units
- Europe (best launch ever for Nintendo Hardware): at least 325 000 units, including 105 000 units from France, and 80k from the United Kingdom
- Total: 1 015 000 units
In other words, the Nintendo Switch has already sold over 1 million units worldwide, and that’s without counting additional countries like Canada.
Source: Nintendo PR / Le Figaro
Thanks to our good friends at Puissance Nintendo for the heads up!
