Moving more than 906,000 units last month in the United States, Nintendo Switch was the #1 best-selling console of March 2017, according to NPD data relayed by Nintendo. Not only is Switch one of the fastest-selling video game systems of all time, it also “sold faster in its launch month than any other video game system in Nintendo history.”
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, meanwhile, sold more than 925,000 copies on Switch and nearly 460,000 copies on Wii U, putting combined totals well over 1.3 million. As a result, Breath of the Wild is the fastest-selling game in franchise history, and the Switch version is the fastest-selling Nintendo launch game of all time.
Addressing the fact that more copies of Breath of the Wild were sold than Switch consoles, Nintendo said, “This may be attributed to people who purchased both a limited edition of the game to collect and a second version to play.”
While the Switch ended the PlayStation 4’s four-month winning streak, the NPD did reveal that the PS4 outsold the Xbox One in March 2017. Sony didn’t offer a statement about the March 2017 results.
Xbox Corporate Vice President of Marketing Mike Nichols sent out this statement yesterday, discussing Xbox Live engagement:
This past quarter, from January to March 2017, we saw record Xbox Live engagement with 1.1 billion multiplayer hours logged globally, a 14 percent increase year-over-year. Looking ahead, we are excited to share more about our plans for Xbox One, including launching the world’s most powerful console – Project Scorpio – alongside an amazing lineup of new Xbox One games. We are thrilled with the incredible response we have received to date for Project Scorpio, and look forward to sharing more about the Xbox One family of devices in the coming months.
Expect the NPD’s full March 2017 report next week.
[Source: Business Wire, Game Revolution, GamesBeat]
