Switch 2 is Nintendo’s biggest UK launch, but doesn’t surpass PS5 or Xbox Series
Switch 2 is Nintendo’s biggest UK launch, but doesn’t surpass PS5 or Xbox Series
by Turbostrider27
36 Comments
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Joseki100
As the article notes, UK is one Nintendo’s weakest market, so selling more than twice the Switch launch there is probably indicative of a massive launch worldwide.
I think we are getting an official PR tomorrow (Nintendo sales PR often comes on wednesday).
Dat_Boi_1340
Ah, so they are comparing the sales from the Thursday release up to Sunday and even mentioned that some console released on an earlier work day and had more time to sell without mentioning which ones had said extra time.
A_Balrog_Is_Come
As someone in the UK everywhere is sold out so yeah, sales are constrained by stock not demand.
netkcid
Something wrong with that place.
Doesn’t surpass Xbox Series… whaaaa?!
Euphoric_Grade_3594
Compared to the 6 month nightmare I went through to get an Xbox series X, for the switch 2 I just walked into a store and bought one 3 days after launch. Perfect console launch to me.
Sophronia-
Can we please stop with the console wars?
Charming_Ease6405
This isn’t surprising at all. Unfortunately, the gaming scene in the UK is completely dominated by Fifa. Most people settled on those console’s ecosystems for that franchise and now they will stay there because that’s where their friends are
TCsnowdream
I feel like so many reviews for the switch 2 right now can basically be summed up as: “Stop having fun!!”
youknowimworking
Hundreds of switch 2’s on scalpers’ hands because the console is so available everywhere too. Love to see it
galgor_
Funny that.. I haven’t even seen a single ad to say the console has been released
Linkbetweentwirls
Honestly, Xbox and PS5 are very popular here. When Xbox was having its glory days during the 360 era, most people I knew had a 360, and the generation after that was PS4., Nintendo has never been THAT popular here compared to other countries
We like our fifas, cods or football managers. The last true single-player game I remember actually being talked about by non gamer friends was something like read dead redemption 2.
I own a Switch 2, a gaming PC and Series X
Alasdair91
160,000-200,000 is still a good number for the UK (based on “more than 2-1 on the Switch 1, at 80,000).
shiko098
I’m in the UK and know a couple of people at the moment on the hunt for one. It may not be the same in other countries, but currently all major retailers in the UK are completely sold out. Apparently none in the shops around their local areas have any either (I’m in the midlands).
I do wonder how long it’ll be before we see some restocks.
KingDaDeDo
i stopped at target this morning and happened to catch a restock of switch 2 consoles. this is also in addition to me going to target at opening hour on launch day last week and they had 60 switch 2 consoles. honestly, the switch 2 launch has been the smoothest console launch of the past decade at least. it’s great to see everyone who has been wanting one, has been able to get one so far!
imprecis2
I would have bought it, but no OLED put me off. 30fps is a less of an issue for me than gray blacks nowadays. I have a friend who also won’t upgrade until they release an OLED variant.
NoMoreVillains
This also likely has to do with Switch launching in June vs the other 2 launching during the holidays IIRC
darkpyro2
The fact that this isnt completely selling out everywhere is a pretty bad sign for the health of the console’s sales. It’s not like Nintendo has some supply chain magic trick that every other console ever hasnt.
PeakAdaequatus
Given that it is still sold out (despite having day one walk-in stock) is still very telling. I didn’t buy into the PS5/4/Xbox Series insanity but it seems to me Nintendo could have done even better with more available stock, and I’ll hand it to them, I feel like they did pretty well anyway.
What is also telling us that a large % of my non-gaming friends with Switch 1s also upgraded to Switch 2 on day one, which to me is a good sign of Nintendo maintaining their userbase.
ZeldaFan158
Makes sense, Xbox is pretty popular in the UK compared to other countries.
OneEndlessTragedy
Have no idea what people are talking about when they talk about how available it is- look at the stock levels, it’s sold out absolutely everywhere. My local shop quoted me 3 weeks til the next availability! While it’s better than a few launches, let’s not call it perfect and that everyone who wanted one got one, know plenty of disappointed people out there
S-192
The UK has always been a Sony country. Nintendo needs the US and rest-of-world. And they’ll win it.
I was able to walk into the store down the street and buy a Switch, some controllers, and a carry case. It’s affordable. It’s well-engineered. It was seamless to set up.
You really don’t get better than this.
Nintendo doesn’t have a global lockdown to spike their unit sales this time, but I’m sure they know that. All things considered, this thing puts Switch 1 to shame. Makes it look like Switch 1 was a premature release. This one is *legit*.
Resh_IX
UK? Gonna need EU numbers
japenrox
I think this is actually huge.
All these people saying Nintendo isn’t as popular as the other brands, but I think most important is the timing of the release.
While the supply chain was affected during Covid, the demand for these commodities was much much higher than it is today. I don’t have number proof, but I think it’s pretty clear the entertainment industry has been on the down trend for a while now.
I’d love to have more context than this article provides, such as actual sales numbers, but if the Switch 2 is coming close to the launches during covid, I think that’s a pretty big tell that the launch is a huge success.
brojooer
Nintendo has never been a particularly huge player in the gaming industry over here so it doesn’t surprise me. Sega and then Sony absolutely trounced the nes, snes, N64, GameCube over here so they lack retro appeal. The Wii and switch naturally sold well over here but there nowhere near the same level as they are in America
jackcos
Some INCREDIBLE takes going in this thread to explain away why this has happened, including the UK being a country of dudebros who don’t like children things or to be seen as childish (wtf) and someone claiming that it’s Fifa’s fault.
You have to look to the past to see why specifically the UK is their weakest market. Firstly, PC gaming. You had the weirdly specific home computer boom in the 1980s of the ZX Spectrum, BBC Micro, and Commodore 64 taking market space before home consoles were big. Then you had Sega, they were always top in Europe but Nintendo have lagged behind specifically in the UK because the NES had an absolutely horrendous launch here and lost that groundshare. Nintendo games have always been seen as expensive (this was the core of every news report I saw about the Switch 2 release on BBC News here). Xbox and Playstation have their EU headquarters based in the UK and have aggressively targeted the market – the UK is something like the second biggest selling country for both.
All this and it’s easy to see why Nintendo didn’t really catch up until the Wii and even recently you would see Switch games being big hits in France and Germany but barely making a dent in the UK game charts.
The Wii was massive here (it was the fastest selling UK console until PS5/XSX), I also remember plenty of the portable consoles being owned here (especially GBC and GBA) but I don’t really remember anyone I know ever owning an N64, Gamecube or Wii U. Plenty of Switch owners though.
The tide is turning slowly but there’s not the nostalgia for the Nintendo consoles of old which powers sales elsewhere. These sales figures are a success imo.
Intelligent-Link8462
Just to add, I feel like consoles here are very much a “Christmas” thing for younger players. Nintendo definitely skews younger in the UK, so June is a weird launch time. We will definitely see an uptick in sales at Christmas time for Switch 2 (all consoles, but I imagine the bigger uptick with be switch 2). Purely anecdotal, but this feels like how it is.
FishLampClock
Maybe if they weren’t sold out every where they’d have more sales…
Bazz_B
They need Call of Duty and Grand Theft Auto. Its really not that complicated. I’ve read stuff about Activision wanting CoD on Switch and it still hasn’t really happened. Announcing GTA5 coming out on Switch 2 now while GTA6 is just around the corner(hopefullly) would look a little laughable but should still happen imo(still sells crazy) and Nintendo should make every consolation to get GTA 6 on Switch 2 at launch.
Having the big popular triple A third party franchises would help a lot too, The Final Fantasys, Resident Evils, newer Assassin’s Creeds etc. Getting Elden Ring now is a great start for the Switch 2 and hopefully thats followed by more FromSoft games like DS3 and Sekiro.
Nogames2
Hasn’t it sold 3 mill world wide or something?
Lulullaby_
British people love fifa
EmxPop
Guess where everyone was in November 2020? Yep, stuck at home with excess cash and no place to go.
roccerfeller
Being originally from the uk, I’ve never felt it was much of a Nintendo market the way I perceive France to be. Game boy, DS, Wii all had good presence but always felt like a PlayStation brand and Xbox 360 had the mindshare.
smthingawesome
if it can’t play GTA, EAFC or COD then most won’t buy it. Uk market revolves around these franchises.
QuinSanguine
It’s amazing how Nintendo pulled this off without doing something like Valve did with Steam Deck. Nintendo did something special here.
The N64 and Dreamcast were the only other consoles I got without a preorder launch week, and that’s just because I guess they didn’t have very high demand, unlike Switch 2.
oedipusrex376
Why highlight the UK though? Nintendo’s main markets have always been the US and Japan. You rarely see diehard Nintendo collectors outside those countries. The article could’ve been about Malaysia and it wouldn’t make any difference.
Back when I was living in Japan during the COVID era, I noticed people felt kind of “pressured” to get a Switch. It was this soft trend going around mostly because of Animal Crossing.
36 Comments
[deleted]
As the article notes, UK is one Nintendo’s weakest market, so selling more than twice the Switch launch there is probably indicative of a massive launch worldwide.
I think we are getting an official PR tomorrow (Nintendo sales PR often comes on wednesday).
Ah, so they are comparing the sales from the Thursday release up to Sunday and even mentioned that some console released on an earlier work day and had more time to sell without mentioning which ones had said extra time.
As someone in the UK everywhere is sold out so yeah, sales are constrained by stock not demand.
Something wrong with that place.
Doesn’t surpass Xbox Series… whaaaa?!
Compared to the 6 month nightmare I went through to get an Xbox series X, for the switch 2 I just walked into a store and bought one 3 days after launch. Perfect console launch to me.
Can we please stop with the console wars?
This isn’t surprising at all. Unfortunately, the gaming scene in the UK is completely dominated by Fifa. Most people settled on those console’s ecosystems for that franchise and now they will stay there because that’s where their friends are
I feel like so many reviews for the switch 2 right now can basically be summed up as: “Stop having fun!!”
Hundreds of switch 2’s on scalpers’ hands because the console is so available everywhere too. Love to see it
Funny that.. I haven’t even seen a single ad to say the console has been released
Honestly, Xbox and PS5 are very popular here. When Xbox was having its glory days during the 360 era, most people I knew had a 360, and the generation after that was PS4., Nintendo has never been THAT popular here compared to other countries
We like our fifas, cods or football managers. The last true single-player game I remember actually being talked about by non gamer friends was something like read dead redemption 2.
I own a Switch 2, a gaming PC and Series X
160,000-200,000 is still a good number for the UK (based on “more than 2-1 on the Switch 1, at 80,000).
I’m in the UK and know a couple of people at the moment on the hunt for one. It may not be the same in other countries, but currently all major retailers in the UK are completely sold out. Apparently none in the shops around their local areas have any either (I’m in the midlands).
I do wonder how long it’ll be before we see some restocks.
i stopped at target this morning and happened to catch a restock of switch 2 consoles. this is also in addition to me going to target at opening hour on launch day last week and they had 60 switch 2 consoles. honestly, the switch 2 launch has been the smoothest console launch of the past decade at least. it’s great to see everyone who has been wanting one, has been able to get one so far!
I would have bought it, but no OLED put me off. 30fps is a less of an issue for me than gray blacks nowadays. I have a friend who also won’t upgrade until they release an OLED variant.
This also likely has to do with Switch launching in June vs the other 2 launching during the holidays IIRC
The fact that this isnt completely selling out everywhere is a pretty bad sign for the health of the console’s sales. It’s not like Nintendo has some supply chain magic trick that every other console ever hasnt.
Given that it is still sold out (despite having day one walk-in stock) is still very telling. I didn’t buy into the PS5/4/Xbox Series insanity but it seems to me Nintendo could have done even better with more available stock, and I’ll hand it to them, I feel like they did pretty well anyway.
What is also telling us that a large % of my non-gaming friends with Switch 1s also upgraded to Switch 2 on day one, which to me is a good sign of Nintendo maintaining their userbase.
Makes sense, Xbox is pretty popular in the UK compared to other countries.
Have no idea what people are talking about when they talk about how available it is- look at the stock levels, it’s sold out absolutely everywhere. My local shop quoted me 3 weeks til the next availability! While it’s better than a few launches, let’s not call it perfect and that everyone who wanted one got one, know plenty of disappointed people out there
The UK has always been a Sony country. Nintendo needs the US and rest-of-world. And they’ll win it.
I was able to walk into the store down the street and buy a Switch, some controllers, and a carry case. It’s affordable. It’s well-engineered. It was seamless to set up.
You really don’t get better than this.
Nintendo doesn’t have a global lockdown to spike their unit sales this time, but I’m sure they know that. All things considered, this thing puts Switch 1 to shame. Makes it look like Switch 1 was a premature release. This one is *legit*.
UK? Gonna need EU numbers
I think this is actually huge.
All these people saying Nintendo isn’t as popular as the other brands, but I think most important is the timing of the release.
While the supply chain was affected during Covid, the demand for these commodities was much much higher than it is today. I don’t have number proof, but I think it’s pretty clear the entertainment industry has been on the down trend for a while now.
I’d love to have more context than this article provides, such as actual sales numbers, but if the Switch 2 is coming close to the launches during covid, I think that’s a pretty big tell that the launch is a huge success.
Nintendo has never been a particularly huge player in the gaming industry over here so it doesn’t surprise me. Sega and then Sony absolutely trounced the nes, snes, N64, GameCube over here so they lack retro appeal. The Wii and switch naturally sold well over here but there nowhere near the same level as they are in America
Some INCREDIBLE takes going in this thread to explain away why this has happened, including the UK being a country of dudebros who don’t like children things or to be seen as childish (wtf) and someone claiming that it’s Fifa’s fault.
You have to look to the past to see why specifically the UK is their weakest market. Firstly, PC gaming. You had the weirdly specific home computer boom in the 1980s of the ZX Spectrum, BBC Micro, and Commodore 64 taking market space before home consoles were big. Then you had Sega, they were always top in Europe but Nintendo have lagged behind specifically in the UK because the NES had an absolutely horrendous launch here and lost that groundshare. Nintendo games have always been seen as expensive (this was the core of every news report I saw about the Switch 2 release on BBC News here). Xbox and Playstation have their EU headquarters based in the UK and have aggressively targeted the market – the UK is something like the second biggest selling country for both.
All this and it’s easy to see why Nintendo didn’t really catch up until the Wii and even recently you would see Switch games being big hits in France and Germany but barely making a dent in the UK game charts.
The Wii was massive here (it was the fastest selling UK console until PS5/XSX), I also remember plenty of the portable consoles being owned here (especially GBC and GBA) but I don’t really remember anyone I know ever owning an N64, Gamecube or Wii U. Plenty of Switch owners though.
The tide is turning slowly but there’s not the nostalgia for the Nintendo consoles of old which powers sales elsewhere. These sales figures are a success imo.
Just to add, I feel like consoles here are very much a “Christmas” thing for younger players. Nintendo definitely skews younger in the UK, so June is a weird launch time. We will definitely see an uptick in sales at Christmas time for Switch 2 (all consoles, but I imagine the bigger uptick with be switch 2). Purely anecdotal, but this feels like how it is.
Maybe if they weren’t sold out every where they’d have more sales…
They need Call of Duty and Grand Theft Auto. Its really not that complicated. I’ve read stuff about Activision wanting CoD on Switch and it still hasn’t really happened. Announcing GTA5 coming out on Switch 2 now while GTA6 is just around the corner(hopefullly) would look a little laughable but should still happen imo(still sells crazy) and Nintendo should make every consolation to get GTA 6 on Switch 2 at launch.
Having the big popular triple A third party franchises would help a lot too, The Final Fantasys, Resident Evils, newer Assassin’s Creeds etc. Getting Elden Ring now is a great start for the Switch 2 and hopefully thats followed by more FromSoft games like DS3 and Sekiro.
Hasn’t it sold 3 mill world wide or something?
British people love fifa
Guess where everyone was in November 2020? Yep, stuck at home with excess cash and no place to go.
Being originally from the uk, I’ve never felt it was much of a Nintendo market the way I perceive France to be. Game boy, DS, Wii all had good presence but always felt like a PlayStation brand and Xbox 360 had the mindshare.
if it can’t play GTA, EAFC or COD then most won’t buy it. Uk market revolves around these franchises.
It’s amazing how Nintendo pulled this off without doing something like Valve did with Steam Deck. Nintendo did something special here.
The N64 and Dreamcast were the only other consoles I got without a preorder launch week, and that’s just because I guess they didn’t have very high demand, unlike Switch 2.
Why highlight the UK though? Nintendo’s main markets have always been the US and Japan. You rarely see diehard Nintendo collectors outside those countries. The article could’ve been about Malaysia and it wouldn’t make any difference.
Back when I was living in Japan during the COVID era, I noticed people felt kind of “pressured” to get a Switch. It was this soft trend going around mostly because of Animal Crossing.