Nintendo won the console wars in 2018 in terms of most units sold, recent tallies confirm. That's from NPD Group's December 2018 report, which reveals the Switch overtook PlayStation 4 and others as the best-selling console of the past year.
The Switch has reached the highest annual sales for any hardware platform in the United States and was the best-selling console in the country in terms of both dollar sales and units sold.
The Nintendo Switch Is Winning
Another notable tidbit from the report is the fact that the Switch generated the highest dollar sales for a single platform in December, an achievement previously set by the Wii in 2009. The hybrid console also garnered the highest unit sales since December 2010. No surprise, then, that after just a year of being in the market, Nintendo reportedly doubled Switch production to meet overwhelming demand.
Best-Selling Games
2018 was a great year for the gaming industry in general. Hardware spending was up 8 percent across the board, reaching $5.1 billion in total sales, according to the report. All the major platforms, including the Switch, PS4, and Xbox One, all saw year-over-year growth in overall sales.
Not only that, but console hardware sales reached its highest annual totals in the last 10 years.
Software was also very profitable this past year, with Red Dead Redemption 2 beating out Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 as the best-selling game of 2018. However, it was the recently released Super Smash Bros. Ultimate that became the highest-selling title of December 2018. Below is a list of the best-selling games throughout the entire year:
• Red Dead Redemption 2
• Call of Duty: Black Ops 4
• NBA 2k19
• Madden NFL 19
• Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
• Marvel's Spider-Man
• Far Cry 5
• God of War
• Monster Hunter: World
• Assassin's Creed: Odyssey
Overall, 2018 was an enormously successful year for gaming, thanks in large part to the massive games that came out in that period, including the aforementioned titles such as Red Dead Redemption 2, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Far Cry 5, and many others.
Nintendo in particular, needless to say, is killing it with the Switch, and that momentum will likely continue as the company continues to pull its biggest cards from its sleeve, among them heavy-hitters such as Animal Crossing, Metroid, and Pokémon. 2019 is going to be an exciting year not just for Nintendo but also for the entire gaming community.
