Nintendo Switch overtakes Wii to become France’s best-selling home console
The platform holder says over 10% of the French population now own a Switch
Nintendo Switch has reportedly surpassed Wii to become France’s best-selling home console ever.
Nintendo claimed on Sunday that one out of every two consoles sold in France last year was a Switch, according to local reports.
Switch sold 987,000 units last year, taking its lifetime total to 7.1 million and overtaking the previous French record held by Wii of 6.3 million sales, according to the platform holder.
The next best-selling home console in the country is PlayStation 4 with six million sales. The most popular system of all time in France is reportedly Nintendo’s DS handheld with around 10.6 million sales.
“10.5% of the 67 million French people are equipped with a Switch,” Philippe Lavoué, the general manager of Nintendo France, said (via Google Translate).
Nine of the 10 best-selling games in France last year were Nintendo Switch titles, the company said.
Pokémon Legends: Arceus led the annual software sales chart. Other top 10 sellers included Pokémon Violet, Pokémon Scarlet, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and Animal Crossing: New Horizons.
The only non-Switch game to make the cut was the PS4 version of FIFA 23.
Lavoué said Pokémon had achieved “a historic year” that was “unheard of for a franchise in France”.
Further reading
Nintendo Switch and FIFA 23 led European games industry sales in 2022
Last year Switch became the best-selling Nintendo home console of all-time, overtaking Wii’s 101.63 million. However, it still has a way to go before it matches Nintendo DS’s 154.02 million units sold, and Game Boy (and Game Boy Color) at 118.69 million.
Outside of Nintendo’s own consoles, only PS4 (116.6 million) and PS2 (155 million) have outsold Switch worldwide.
