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Forums - Sales - Global Hardware Mar 21-27 - Switch Sells Nearly 750,000 as Monster Hunter Launches

kazuyamishima on 10 April 2021
trunkswd said:

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PS5 vs PS4 Launch Sales Comparison Through Week 20

This weekly mini-series compares the aligned launch sales of the PlayStation 5 with its predecessor, the PlayStation 4. 

The first week for the PlayStation 5 is the week ending November 14, 2020, while for the PlayStation 4 it is the week ending November 16, 2013.

The two consoles had a staggered launch with the PlayStation 5 launching November 12, 2020 in North America, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, and the rest of the world on November 19, 2020. The PlayStation 4 launched in North America on November 15, 2013, in Europe on November 29, 2013, and in Japan on February 22, 2014.

PS5 Vs. PS4 Worldwide:

Gap change in latest week: 55,953 - PS5

Gap change over last month: 155,426 - PS5

Total Lead: 18,699 - PS4

PlayStation 5 Total Sales: 6,799,218

PlayStation 4 Total Sales: 6,817,917

During week 20, the gap grew in favor of the PlayStation 5 when compared to the aligned launch of the PlayStation 4 by 55,953 units. In the last month, the PlayStation 5 has closed the gap by 155,426 units. The PlayStation 5 is currently behind by just 18,699 units. 

The PlayStation 5 has sold 6.80 million units in 20 weeks, while the PlayStation 4 sold 6.82 million units. Week 20 for the PlayStation 5 is the week ending March 27, 2021 and it is the week ending March 28, 2014 for the PlayStation 4.

The PlayStation 4 sold 191,431 units in its 21st week to bring its lifetime sales to 7.01 million units. The PlayStation 5 would need to sell 210,130 units in its 21st week to catch up to the PlayStation 4.

The PlayStation 4 crossed seven million sold units in week 21, eight million sold in week 28, and nine million units sold in week 33

I predicted that, by about week 22-23, PS5 would pass PS4. But it can actually happens in week 21.

It all depends outside of Japan since sales for week 21 are way lower (about 20k) compared to the week before (62k).

But it’s all a great achievement, since you know, now there is “competition”. 



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Wman1996 on 10 April 2021

This proves that every now and then a third-party game can significantly boost Nintendo hardware sales. Honestly, I don't think any other Switch third-party game to date had much of an impact on sales.



Lifetime Sales Predictions 

Switch: 161 million (was 73 million, then 96 million, then 113 million, then 125 million, then 144 million, then 151 million, then 156 million)

PS5: 122 million (was 105 million, then 115 million) Xbox Series X/S: 38 million (was 60 million, then 67 million, then 57 million. then 48 million. then 40 million)

Switch 2: 120 million (was 116 million)

PS4: 120 mil (was 100 then 130 million, then 122 million) Xbox One: 51 mil (was 50 then 55 mil)

3DS: 75.5 mil (was 73, then 77 million)

"Let go your earthly tether, enter the void, empty and become wind." - Guru Laghima

curl-6 on 10 April 2021

It would seem quite a few of the newfound MH audience won over by World were willing to follow the series to Switch, even if it meant buying new hardware.

Not many games outside of Nintendo's first party A-list can boost a system by 300k over baseline.



Alby_da_Wolf on 11 April 2021
PAOerfulone said:

All-Time Console Sales List:

1) PlayStation 2 (PS2) - 157,680,000 (155,000,000+ according to Sony) Mar. 31st, 2012

2) Nintendo DS (DS) - 154,900,000 (154,020,000 according to Nintendo) - Dec. 31st, 2020

3) Game Boy (GB/GBC) - 118,690,000

4) PlayStation 4 (PS4) - 115,271,202 (114,900,000+ according to Sony) - Dec. 31st, 2020

5) PlayStation (PS1) - 102,500,000 (102,400,000+ according to Sony) - Mar. 31st, 2012

6) Nintendo Wii (Wii) - 101,640,000 (101,630,000 according to Nintendo) - Dec. 31st, 2020

7) PlayStation 3 (PS3) - 87,410,000 (87,400,000+ according to Sony) - Mar. 31st, 2017

8) Xbox 360 (360) - 85,800,000

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

9) Nintendo Switch (NS) - 82,422,894 (79,870,000 according to Nintendo) - Dec. 31st, 2020

The Switch has now toppled the 82 million mark and rapidly approached the 360. 

Slownenberg said:

Switch is insane. Baseline over 400k and big launch is 750k. Assuming this year new model + holiday BotW2 & Pokemon launches, Nintendo is definitely trying to outdo the hardware peak from last year! Switch should most likely pass Wii and PS1 in December.

Kristof81 said:

Yup, NS is going to outsell Wii this year. PS4 next year. 

curl-6 said:

Switch can easily beat it's 2020 hardware totals if Nintendo don't drop the ball in the second half of the year.

If their second semester lineup is strong they could probably do it even without a revision; throw in the rumored Pro and it should be a slam dunk barring inadequate supply.


Using a magic third-hand crystal ball that once belonged to P, the mightiest analyst ever, I predict that NS will outsell XB360, PS3 and Wii easily, then a trip and AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH! THE CLIFF! It will stop at 101,641,000 lifetime.

trunkswd said:
Wman1996 said:

This proves that every now and then a third-party game can significantly boost Nintendo hardware sales. Honestly, I don't think any other Switch third-party game to date had much of an impact on sales.

I'm not sure any third-party game has EVER increased sales of a Nintendo console that much before. 


When MH will have outsold enough 1st party titles, Ninty will start hating it and NS too.   

Last edited by Alby_da_Wolf - on 11 April 2021

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The_Liquid_Laser on 11 April 2021
Shaunodon said:
The_Liquid_Laser said:

Switch hardware sales in NA are almost as much as Japan.  The Monster Hunter series has definitely taken hold in NA.  Also, Switch sold almost 750k this week and is still down 6% YoY.  It's starting to look like March is the new Christmas.

Even knowing how well World did in the west, I just assumed that was mostly due to how westernised the actual game was. Given that Rise is a lot more Japanese-centric, I figured it wouldn't be quite as close. Nice to see.

Yep, what World did for Monster Hunter is the same as what FF7 did for Final Fantasy.  It made the series permanently a lot more popular, especially worldwide.  Every mainline Final Fantasy after 7 has outsold FF6 even though there are several entries that are not nearly as good.  It's just that FF7 greatly increased the value of the Final Fantasy brand permanently.  That is what MH World did too.  It greatly increased the value of the Monster Hunter brand permanently.



curl-6 bet me that PS5 + X|S sales would reach 56m before year end 2023 and he was right.
My Bet With curl-6

My Threads:
Master Thread, Game of the Year/Decade
Switch Will Be #1 All Time
Zelda Will Outsell Mario (Achieved)
How Much Will MH Rise sell?
My Bet With Metallox

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pikashoe on 11 April 2021

Maybe third party devs will see the success of monster hunter and realise that 3rd party games can thrive on a Nintendo console when effort is put in. Or more likely they'll continue to ignore Nintendo consoles



Dulfite on 11 April 2021
pikashoe said:

Maybe third party devs will see the success of monster hunter and realise that 3rd party games can thrive on a Nintendo console when effort is put in. Or more likely they'll continue to ignore Nintendo consoles

At this point if they haven't already started working on a game for Switch they might as well wait until dev kits come in for Switch 2. No point spending 2-3 years (from today) developing a game to release in the final moments of the Switch (when software sales will be nothing like they are now because people will be waiting for Switch 2). This does give me hope for Switch 2 games, though!



HigHurtenflurst on 11 April 2021
mk7sx said:
HigHurtenflurst said:

Do you have saved figures (or a link to) for last years NPD? Kinda curious what Switch managed last March.

Never got a hard number for March 2020, the leak was ">1 million".  But I think the deducted number at the end of the year was between 1,010 - 1,020K.

Thanks.
Looks like 1st quarter record is Wii 2009, over 2 million! Dont think that will be beaten anytime soon as I doubt Switch will be over 1 million this year.



curl-6 on 12 April 2021
HigHurtenflurst said:
mk7sx said:

Never got a hard number for March 2020, the leak was ">1 million".  But I think the deducted number at the end of the year was between 1,010 - 1,020K.

Thanks.
Looks like 1st quarter record is Wii 2009, over 2 million! Dont think that will be beaten anytime soon as I doubt Switch will be over 1 million this year.

While it was cut short prematurely, the Wii was an absolute monster in its prime. Watching the charts back then was a blast, it's what drew me to VGChartz in the first place.



mk7sx on 12 April 2021
HigHurtenflurst said:
mk7sx said:

Never got a hard number for March 2020, the leak was ">1 million".  But I think the deducted number at the end of the year was between 1,010 - 1,020K.

Thanks.
Looks like 1st quarter record is Wii 2009, over 2 million! Dont think that will be beaten anytime soon as I doubt Switch will be over 1 million this year.

Yeah Wii 09 will be tough, but #2 place is doable.

Difference is, NSW is doing this while also challenging records WW.

Wii 08 Q1 in the US was 1,427K and outside of US was ~2,500K (Fiscal Year 2)

Wii 09 Q1 in the US was 2,033K and outside of US was ~2,220K (Fiscal Year 3)

NSW 20 Q1 in the US was 1,608K and outside of the US was ~3,500K (Fiscal Year 4)

NSW 21 Q1 in the US remains to be seen, but outside of the US looks like its going to hit 4,000K!  (Fiscal Year 5)

NSW is a completely different global beast at this point, I'm sure it could have challenged the Wii's quarterly/monthly peaks in the US if they didn't also need to supply 4M to the rest of the world at the same time.