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The Nintendo Switch has already outsold the Wii U

The Nintendo Switch has already outsold the Wii U

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Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge

Nintendo had a barnstormer of a holiday quarter, selling 7.23 million Switch consoles and nearly doubling the total number sold to date. At 14.86 million units as of the end of December, the Switch has already outsold its predecessor, the Wii U, in just ten months on sale. The Wii U went on sale in November 2012 and moved 13.56 million units before Nintendo ended production last year.

Nintendo’s own software titles are selling extremely well, too, with impressive attach rates for many games. Super Mario Odyssey is the top-selling game on the system at 9.07 million copies sold, with Mario Kart 8 Deluxe reaching 7.33 million, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild on 6.70 million, and Splatoon 2 achieving 4.91 million. 

As a result of its performance last quarter, Nintendo has adjusted its forecast for the financial year ending in March; it now expects to make 33.3 percent greater operating profit of 160 billion yen ($1.47 billion) off 1.02 trillion yen ($9.38 billion) in revenue. The company has a relatively quiet quarter ahead, with Kirby Star Allies its biggest Switch title on the schedule, but April sees the launch of the much-hyped Labo cardboard accessories