Nintendo presented its half-year figures on November 5, 2026, revealing two sides to the Switch 2 story: A total of 26.35 million consoles had been shipped by September 30, but hardware sales are significantly declining in the current fiscal year. From April to September, Nintendo sold 6.49 million Switch 2 devices, a 37.4 percent decrease compared to the 10.36 million units sold in the same period last year.
How are Switch 2 and Switch 1 sales performing?
In the second quarter (July to September), Nintendo shipped approximately 2.67 million Switch 2 consoles, following 3.82 million in the previous quarter. The original Switch added another 1.27 million units in the half-year (down 32.7 percent), bringing its total to 157.20 million consoles sold. This puts it within sight of the PlayStation 2's record of around 160 million, as noted by Video Games Chronicle.
Software performance is stronger: 24.49 million Switch 2 games were sold in the half-year, an increase of 18.8 percent. The original Switch saw a 6.8 percent rise in game sales to 65.73 million units. The period's bestsellers were Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream with 8.81 million, Rhythm Heaven Groove with 2.89 million, and Splatoon Raiders with 2.42 million copies. Fire Emblem: Fortune’s Weave achieved 1.34 million sales in just two weeks.
Financially, the picture looks like this, according to Video Games Chronicle: The core gaming platform business shrank by 15.3 percent, while revenue from licenses and intellectual property (IP) surged by 87.9 percent, partly thanks to The Super Mario Galaxy Movie. Nintendo has left its forecast for the fiscal year ending March 2027 unchanged, expecting 16.5 million Switch 2 units to be sold. An overview of all figures is available on Nintendo's Investor Relations page.
What Switch 2 games are coming next?
As is customary, Nintendo also confirmed the release windows for upcoming titles alongside its financial results. The current schedule for Switch 2 is:
- The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time: releases today, November 5, 2026
- Pikmin 4 – Nintendo Switch 2 Edition + Dandori Academy: November 12, 2026
- Xenoblade Chronicles 3 – Nintendo Switch 2 Edition: December 3, 2026
- Metroid Ravenous: January 28, 2027
- Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity – Definitive Edition: February 25, 2027
- Kirby and the World Beyond: Spring 2027
You can find everything about the Pikmin re-release in our report on the Pikmin Day Direct.
Anticipated decline: Why the numbers aren't a disaster
Nintendo had already announced lower sales for the Switch 2's second year. The reason: price increases coincided with good supply at launch, leading many fans to purchase early. Even after adjusting for launch periods, the Switch 2 is still more than six million units ahead of the original Switch and PS5, whose launches were hampered by supply shortages, according to VGC.
Our assessment: The increase in software and licensing revenue despite declining hardware figures demonstrates how much Nintendo now relies on these areas. For players, this means the coming months depend on the hits of the second half of the year. Analyst Serkan Toto of Kantan Games, according to VGC, is particularly banking on the Ocarina of Time remake and anticipates a significantly stronger Nintendo year in 2027. This remains his projection and is not yet confirmed.
Source: Nintendo Investor Relations, Video Games Chronicle, Nintendo Life, Nintendo Life (Release Windows), Gematsu
Which title from Nintendo's line-up until Spring 2027 are you most looking forward to playing on your Switch 2?
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