Nintendo’s profits are up, Nintendo Switch becomes the best-selling console
2025 has been a great year for Nintendo. The Japanese gaming company generated net sales of ¥1,905.8 billion, or approximately $12.3 billion, in the last three quarters of the year. And the Nintendo Switch handheld officially became the best-selling Nintendo console ever.
Milan Games Week. Photo by Emanuele Cremaschi/Getty
2025 has been a great year for Nintendo. The Japanese gaming company generated net sales of ¥1,905.8 billion, or approximately $12.3 billion, in the last three quarters of the year. And the Nintendo Switch handheld officially became the best-selling Nintendo console ever.
According to Nintendo’s most recent quarterly numbers, from April to the end of December 2025, Nintendo sold 17.37 million units of the Nintendo Switch 2, which was released on June 5th. Nintendo managed to sell 37.93 million video games during this period.
With over 14 million sales globally, the most popular game for the Nintendo Switch 2 was Mario Kart World. Donkey Kong Bananza, which was released in July 2025, was Nintendo’s runner-up with over 4.25 million copies sold. Pokémon Legends: Z-A and Kirby Air Riders also performed well, with 3.89 million and 1.76 million units sold, respectively.
The original Nintendo Switch, released in 2017, sold 3.25 million copies, which is 66% less compared to the year before. Nevertheless, games for the first-generation Nintendo Switch remained immensely popular, with over 108.93 million sales.
The most popular games for the console were Pokémon Legends: Z-A (8.41 million), Super Mario Galaxy 2 (2.42 million), Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (2.39 million), Super Mario Galaxy (2.28 million), and Super Mario Party Jamboree (1.93 million).
Historically, with over 155.37 million units sold, the original Nintendo Switch handheld reached the highest sales of any Nintendo hardware. For a long time, the Nintendo DS was Nintendo’s most desirable handheld, exceeding 154 million units sold.
The most popular gaming console in the entire gaming industry remains the Sony PlayStation 2, with over 160 million units sold since its release in 2000.
Sales are most likely to shoot up even more due to new and exciting game releases. For example, Mario Tennis Fever is scheduled to release next week. Other games we can expect later this year are Pokémon Pokopia, Yoshi and the Mysterious Book, Fire Emblem: Fortune’s Weave, Splatoon Raiders, Resident Evil Requiem, Pragmata, and 007 First Light.
Nintendo and production company Illumination are releasing the Super Mario Galaxy Movie in April 2026.
Lastly, 2026 marks the 40th anniversary of the Super Mario Bros. franchise. For this special occasion, Nintendo has released several new products, including some new amiibos.
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