Analyst firm DFC Intelligence has predicted that Nintendo may well become the “primary partner for third-party game publishers” in five years, by which time the Switch 2 is predicted to have sold 100 million units.
This comes via Eurogamer, with DFC Intelligence posting its latest report on the gaming industry going forward, noting that Nintendo is likely to exceed its projected sales forecast for the Switch 2 this year. For the record, Nintendo has forecast 15 million Switch 2 sales in FY2026, which lines up nicely with the original Switch’s performance within its first year of sale.
Here’s what DFC had to say:
“When the original Switch launched in March 2017, Nintendo initially projected 10m units for the fiscal year but ultimately sold 15m units in that period. Based on that track record, the fact that Nintendo is forecasting a 15m unit number gives us confidence that they will be able to ramp up supply and navigate tariff challenges.”
Looking ahead, DFC expects the Switch 2 to be the leading console by 2029 with 100 million sales. As such, it predicts that “The next few years could see Nintendo for the first time becoming the primary partner for third-party game publishers”.
Of course, it’s likely that both Sony and Microsoft will release their own native handheld consoles in the coming years, but the significant headstart afforded to the Switch 2 will give it a significant boost; not to mention the unrivalled catalogue of first party franchises like Mario, Zelda, and Pokémon.
It’ll be interesting to see how the next few years shake out. There’s understandable concern around the pricing for the Switch 2 and its games, but it seems that this currently doesn’t have much sway on Nintendo’s predicted success with its new console.
