The Game Business understands that
Switch 2 sales in the US over the holiday period (November – December) was down by around 35% compared with what the Switch 1 delivered during the same period in 2017, which was when it launched. This follows a report from US data tracker Circana, which revealed that US console sales overall had their worst November since 1995.
There are also
mixed results across Europe. In the
UK, Switch 2 sales for the last eight weeks of the year were 16% lower than what
Switch 1 managed during the last eight weeks of
2017 (NielsenIQ data).
However, when we
add in Switch 1 UK sales, the overall number of Nintendo devices sold during November and December 2025 are up 7% compared with the same period in
2017.
Overall for the year, Switch 2
UK sales are 6% higher than what Switch 1 managed in its first year (which was also on sale for 14 extra weeks).
The
most disappointing result was in
France, which is typically one of Nintendo’s key European markets. According to
data shared with The Game Business, Switch 2 sales in
France last year were ‘over 30%’ lower than what Switch 1 achieved in its first year. As a result, the
UK was bigger than France for Switch 2 sales
in 2025.
France was an outlier in terms of full year results. Nevertheless, all
major European markets saw a slowdown in Switch 2 sales momentum
over the Christmas sales window.
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