Nintendo Switch 2 Faces Dire Third-Party Game Sales Despite Successful Launch
Despite enjoying a massive launch, the Nintendo Switch 2 is reportedly suffering from rather lukewarm sales of third-party games, as most players flock towards first-party Nintendo titles like Mario Kart World .
This news comes from TheGameBusiness' Chris Dring, who went through the console's latest game sales figures surrounding its launch. Citing data from research companies Circana and NielsenIQ, Dring notes that 48% of physical game sales in the UK and 62% of sales in the US were first-party titles, when excluding the console's Mario Kart World bundle. If the bundle was taken into account, however, the figure would be further increased to 86% in the UK, although statistics for the US were not presented. Mario Kart World
For context, the Nintendo Switch 2 launched with only three new physical first-party titles: Mario Kart World , and the two enhanced editions of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and its sequel, Tears of the Kingdom . On the other hand, there were a total of 13 physical third-party games, including CD Projekt Red's Cyberpunk 2077 , Konami's Survival Kids , and Square Enix's Bravely Default Flying Fairy HD Remaster .
Speaking to TheGameBusiness, one unnamed third-party publisher noted dire sales figures for its Switch 2 launch sales, stating that it was 'below our lowest estimates'. Dring also noted that despite the newest console's figures being an improvement compared to its predecessor's launch, which saw 89% of physical sales at the time being from first-party games, most third-party Switch 2 games 'posted very low numbers'.
As to the reason for such disappointing numbers, Dring suggested that this could be due to the console's enhanced backwards compatibility, leading to players jumping back into the original Switch's back catalogue, coupled with the fact that almost all of the third-party Switch 2 launch titles are ports of already released games, meaning they are likely titles already played and completed by players on other platforms. Survival Kids
Despite this report, some sources are actually painting a different picture. US sales tracker Mat Piscatella, who works at Circana, for example, took to Bluesky to state that third-party sales of Nintendo Switch 2 games in the US were actually 'far better' than those of the original console when it launched. CD Projekt Red also shared the sentiment, reporting that Cyberpunk 2077 was the 'best-selling third-party game during the launch of Switch 2', and that the game did 'reasonable numbers'.
Amidst the conflicting reports, Dring adds that he was told by many major publishers that Nintendo is 'actively trying to push third-party games this time around', with the hopes that sales will pick up in the coming months once other notable third-party titles like EA Sports Madden 26 and Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 + 4 are released. For Nintendo's first-party titles, the console has some big-hitters in its pipeline, including Donkey Kong Bananza , Pokémon Legends: Z-A and enhanced editions of Kirby and the Forgotten Land and Mario Party Jamboree .
Kevin is a reformed PC Master Race gamer with a penchant for franchise 'duds' like Darksiders III and Dead Space 3 . He has made it his life-long mission to play every single major game release – lest his wallet dies trying. Mario Kart World Nintendo Nintendo switch 2
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