Coming into 2018, there was a lot of worry as to whether the Nintendo Switch would be able to keep up the momentum that it had in 2017 after a record year. And while the software side of things got a little slow before the arrival of Pokemon Let’s Go and Super Smash Bros Ultimate, the hardware sales were still really strong. And now, the NPD has released the December 2018 numbers, as well as parts of the yearly sales numbers, and Switch came out on top both times.
This comes from Mat Piscatella, who noted on Twitter:
Led by Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, tracked Dec sales reached $3.4B, +2% vs YA. Nintendo Switch finishes as the year’s top HW platform, while Red Dead Redemption 2 is the best-selling game of the year.
He also noted that the Switch had the highest single unit sales in the US during December than any platform since the Nintendo Wii all the way back in 2009! Again, no official numbers have been given, however, it’s fair to assume that the Switch likely sold over a million units in the United States alone in December.
All of this leads to the Switch not just ending the year with a bang, but having good momentum for 2019. Two big titles have already released in the form of Super Mario Bros U Deluxe and Travis Strikes Again No More Heroes, and in March there is Yoshi’s Crafted World, and more games are scheduled beyond that.