The latest Media Create results, combined with historical data, confirm that the Nintendo Switch and PS4 both passed a sales milestone in Japan.
The Switch passed 2.5 million units sold in the country, after only nine months from its release on March 3rd. The nine-month timespan is actually quite precise since the latest Media Create release is related to the week ending on December 3rd, with a total bounty for Nintendo’s new console of 2.522.298 units. That’s a massive acceleration out of the gate despite shortages, and it’ll be interesting to see whether it’ll slow down after initial demand is satisfied, or momentum will keep going.
The PS4 actually passed its milestone last week, overtaking 5.5 million units sold since February 22th, 2014. The latest tally is at 5,540,449 units sold. While the console has hit a solid stride, its first year and a half were extremely sluggish due to the lack of games dedicated to the Japanese market, following by a large cross-generation period in which games released also on PS3 reduced the attractiveness of the new console.
It’ll be interesting to see whether the Switch will manage to catch up with the rival before things level off, but catching up with the Wii U will be much easier, since the total local sales for Nintendo’s older console are at 3,328,838.
Despite Japan’s notorious preference for portables, PS Vita is also about to be overtaken by PS4, which is only 200,000 units away from its handheld predecessor, which has sold 5,748,337 units.