Here’s an interesting tidbit — Nintendo Switch games are the best-selling physical media in the United Kingdom. That’s right, more than vinyls, or CDs, or even PlayStation or Xbox discs (which count both the last generation and the current one) — Switch carts are more profitable than all of them. More Switch carts are sold than DVDs or Blu-rays. That’s pretty wild.
This is fun. The most profitable ‘format’ for all of entertainment in the UK — including DVDs and CDs — is the Nintendo Switch. Just ahead of vinyl. PlayStation is ahead of CDs and DVDs. Obviously this is revenue rather than units, and games cost more. But still (Source:ERA) pic.twitter.com/gBOU0jWOoJ
— Christopher Dring (@Chris_Dring) September 7, 2022
Now, there are some caveats — for one, it’s not like the Switch is outselling entire mediums. DVDs and Blu-rays combined or vinyls and CDs combined outmatch the Switch handily (though if you do the same for video game formats, you can see that games physically outsell music and home movies quite handily). And, of course, this is only physical media sales — it’s not including box office sales, digital purchases, or subscriptions like Netflix or Spotify (video games are maybe the only popular medium currently not driven by subscription services besides like… theater or maybe hardbound literature. Come to think of it, books don’t show up on here either.) And it’s also worth noting that this is based on raw money rather than unit sales, and video games cost more than movies or albums.
Even with all those caveats in mind, it does put certain things in perspective — like just how successful the Switch has been in the grand scope of things. Obviously this is just one region, but there’s no denying the console has become a fixture for much of the world. We can only presume the console’s success continues from here.
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Written by Amelia Fruzzetti
A writer and Nintendo fan based in Seattle, Washington. When not working for NinWire, she can be found eating pasta, writing stories, and wondering about when Mother 3 is finally going to get an official localization.
