The Switch Enjoyed the Best Launch Month of Any Nintendo Console

Since 2014, Christopher Joseph Panciocco has worked as a manager and driver for Red Dog Disposal, a Walpole, Massachusetts-based waste company run by Christopher and his father. There, he delivers dumpsters to clients and also transports full dumpsters to the local dump. Outside of his work life, Christopher Panciocco enjoys playing video games. 

Nintendo’s newest gaming console, the Switch, is now the Japanese company’s fastest-selling console of all time. In the month of March, 2017, when the Switch launched, the system sold over 906,000 units, according to the gaming, tech, and news site TechRadar. In a press release, Nintendo acknowledged the monumental demand for its newest console, while promising that new systems are continually shipped, so everyone who wants a Switch will be able to get one. 

The system’s flagship launch title, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, is also enjoying the same success. Though the game was also released on the company’s older Wii U console, the Switch version sold almost a million copies in the first month the console and game was available. TechRadar surmises that the game sold more copies than the actual console, because collectors snatch up multiple copies, one to play and one to keep in pristine condition. 

While it is still too early to deem the Switch a total success based on its first-month figures, the high sales numbers for both the console and Zelda at least foreshadow a promising future for Nintendo’s latest console.