Switch 2 tops U.S. sales

Nintendo’s Switch 2 was the top-selling game console in the U.S. in March, ending the PlayStation 5’s lead from the first two months of 2026. (bloomberg.com) Circana said Switch 2 led U.S. hardware sales in both units and dollars for the five-week period from March 1 to April 4. Americans spent $500 million on game hardware in that span, up 69% from a year earlier. (gamesindustry.biz) Mat Piscatella, Circana’s executive director and video game industry analyst, said Pokémon Pokopia was the main reason Switch 2 moved to No. 1 in March. The game launched on March 5 as a Switch 2 exclusive. (bloomberg.com, pokemon.com) Nintendo said on March 12 that Pokopia sold more than 2.2 million copies worldwide in its first four days. That gave Switch 2 a new exclusive hit less than a year into the console’s market life. (nintendo.co.jp) The March result matters because hardware sales had been weak for much of 2025 before Switch 2 arrived. Circana’s March report also showed total U.S. video game spending reached $5.3 billion, with content spending at $4.5 billion and accessories at $261 million. (gamesindustry.biz) Nintendo had already raised its Switch 2 sales forecast to 19 million units for the fiscal year ending March 2026, up from 15 million. The higher target followed strong early demand for the console. (cnbc.com) Pokopia also gave Nintendo a different kind of system seller. Nintendo’s official description calls it a life-simulation game where players rebuild a world as Ditto, a softer pitch than the company’s usual action-heavy Pokémon releases. (nintendo.com) The March charts suggest that formula worked in the U.S. A single exclusive release was enough to push Switch 2 to the top of both the unit and revenue rankings for the month. (bloomberg.com, gamesindustry.biz)