It seems like there may still be some room for the Nintendo 3DS after all. Today, Nintendo revealed some of its sales numbers in the US, and the 3DS — which many predicted would die out following the launch of the Switch — actually saw a jump in sales. According to Nintendo, the dual-screened handheld sold 750,000 units in the US in December, which represented a 27 percent jump compared to 2016. Collectively, the 3DS has sold more than 21 million units in the US to date.
Those numbers represent about half of what the Switch sold over the same period. Nintendo says that the Switch was purchased 1.5 million times during the same holiday period. Back in December, the company said that the Switch had sold a total of 10 million units worldwide, putting it on track to beat the first-year sales of the original Wii.
Unlike its past consoles, the Switch also has a portable component, so it’s surprising to see the 3DS continue to thrive in that environment. The strong holiday sales could have something to do with the launch of Pokémon Ultra Sun and Moon in November, two of the most approachable games in the series to date. Nintendo says that the games were both in the top 15 selling titles for December. The company also released a new iteration of the handheld, the New Nintendo 2DS XL, this past summer.
Unfortunately for the 3DS, it seems unlikely that this trend will continue for long. Nintendo’s road map for its future games is almost entirely focused on the Switch, with new entries in popular series like Pokémon and Metroid. The company also just announced its unexpected new Labo line of DIY cardboard accessories for the Switch, which makes its debut in April.