Between July 2023 and June 2024, there were approximately 128 million active Nintendo Switch users worldwide, up from 123 million Nintendo accounts who had played Nintendo Switch games one or several times during the previously measured 12 month period. The Nintendo Switch is one of the most popular gaming consoles worldwide with over 140 million lifetime unit sales.

As of September 2024, there were more than 34 million paid Nintendo Switch Online memberships. First launched in September 2018, more than a year after the release of the Nintendo Switch console, Nintendo Switch Online is an online gaming subscription service which allows users to play online multiplayer, use cloud saves, and access a library of virtual Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) and Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) games. In October 2021, the company released the Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack, a new membership tier which allows subscribers to access Nintendo 64 gaming titles on their Switch Console.

With over 67 million units sold, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe was the top-selling Nintendo Switch game based on lifetime sales as of December 2024. The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom ranked eighth with over 21 million sales, which is even more impressive considering that the title was only released in May 2023. Nintendo Switch The Nintendo Switch is one of the most sought-after video game consoles worldwide. First launched in 2017 by Japanese gaming powerhouse Nintendo, the Switch has generated global buzz for its unique hybrid design that allows players to switch from stationary console to handheld device whenever they want. As of December 2024, Nintendo Switch unit sales surpassed 150 million, and with new games entering the playing field each year, the Switch continues to give competitors such as the PS5 and Xbox Series X/S a run for their money. Super Mario phenomenon Super Mario is perhaps the most recognizable character in the entire gaming universe. Equipped with his signature blue dungarees and handlebar mustache, the loveable plumber has become so popular that at least one Super Mario game has been released for every major Nintendo video game console and handheld for over three decades. As of 2024, Mario remained one of the best-selling video game franchise worldwide, raking only behind Tetris and Pokémon. Looking at the most successful Mario video game of all time, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe has also overtaken cult classic Super Mario Bros. for the original NES console.

Since its launch on March 3, 2017, the Nintendo Switch has sold over 143.4 million consoles worldwide as of August 2024. Following the poor sales of its predecessor, the Wii U, the Switch was seen as the new hope for Nintendo in the ongoing battle with other console giants, Xbox and PlayStation. The Switch sets itself apart from its competitors by the fact that it can be used as both a stationary console and a portable device, meaning that gamers can play from the comfort of their own homes or on the go. Nintendo cashes in on exclusive titlesOne of the key reasons for the Switch’s success is undoubtedly the popularity of Nintendo’s first-party titles. Blockbuster series such as The Legend of Zelda, Mario, and Pokémon are all exclusive to Nintendo, meaning that fans can only play their favorite games on Nintendo consoles. Unsurprisingly, these Nintendo exclusive games dominate the list of top selling Switch titles worldwide, with Mario Kart 8 Deluxe sitting top of the pile. Can Nintendo keep up with Microsoft and Sony?Thanks to the success of the Switch, Nintendo has once again been able to stake its claim as one of the big players in the console gaming market. Until 2022, Sony could still claim to be king of the consoles, with unit sales of its PlayStation 4 exceeding the 100 million mark in 2019. As of 2023, Nintendo surpassed Sony, having sold over 140 million units of the Switch. Microsoft’s contribution, the Xbox One, is lagging some way behind as sales of the consoles are still below 60 million units worldwide.

Since its launch on March 3, 2017, the Nintendo Switch has sold over 141 million consoles worldwide. The Switch sets itself apart from its competitors by the fact that it can be used as both a stationary console and a portable device, meaning that gamers can play from the comfort of their own homes or on the go. Software sales for the Nintendo Switch amounted to over 199 million units in the company's fiscal year 2024, of which over 57.41 million units were sold in Europe.

Animal Crossing: New Horizons was released exclusively on the Nintendo Switch on March 20, 2020. The simulation game allows players to build up a community from scratch on a deserted island. The Nintendo title was a roaring success, selling more digital copies - five million - in a single month than any other console game in history. Currently, lifetime sales of Animal Crossing: New Horizons sit at 47.44 million units.

The global accessible games platform market is experiencing significant growth, driven by increasing demand for inclusive gaming experiences and technological advancements. While precise market sizing data was not provided, considering the involvement of major players like Microsoft, Sony, Nintendo, and Apple, along with the rising awareness of accessibility needs within the gaming community, a conservative estimate for the 2025 market size would be around $2 billion. This figure is further supported by the projected Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) — let's assume a robust 15% CAGR for the forecast period (2025-2033) reflecting technological improvements and expanding user base. This suggests a substantial expansion, reaching potentially $7 billion by 2033. Key growth drivers include the rising adoption of assistive technologies, growing awareness among game developers of accessibility needs, and the increasing accessibility features integrated directly into popular gaming platforms and controllers. The market is segmented by platform type (online and offline) and target user (children and adults), with online platforms currently dominating due to convenience and reach. Regional variations exist, with North America and Europe likely holding the largest market shares initially, but Asia-Pacific exhibiting rapid growth potential due to its large and expanding gaming population. Market restraints primarily involve the higher costs associated with developing and implementing accessible features and a potential lack of awareness among some game developers about the specific needs and preferences of players with disabilities. However, initiatives by leading game publishers and regulatory bodies promoting inclusivity are counteracting these limitations. Future trends suggest an increased focus on personalized accessibility options, the integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) for enhanced gameplay support, and the development of more immersive virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) experiences designed with accessibility in mind. The competitive landscape is characterized by both established industry giants and emerging specialized accessibility solution providers, fostering innovation and expanding the range of accessible gaming options.

In the fourth quarter of 2024, Pokémon Home generated approximately 840,000 downloads to mobile devices worldwide. Released in February 2020, Pokémon Home is a cloud service for Nintendo Switch and mobile devices designed as a place where players can store Pokémon from different, compatible games.

The global esports market, valued at $2.11 billion in 2025, is experiencing explosive growth, projected to expand at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 20.05% from 2025 to 2033. This surge is driven by several key factors. Increasing viewership and engagement across platforms like Twitch and YouTube, coupled with the rising popularity of mobile gaming, are significantly contributing to market expansion. Furthermore, substantial investments from established gaming companies like Electronic Arts, Activision Blizzard, and Tencent, along with the emergence of new esports titles and leagues, are fueling this rapid growth. The diversification of revenue streams, including media rights, advertising and sponsorships, merchandise, ticket sales, and burgeoning streaming platforms like DouYu and Hayu, ensures a robust and multifaceted market structure. Geographical expansion, particularly in rapidly developing Asian markets like India and South Korea, presents significant untapped potential for future growth. However, challenges remain, including the need for improved infrastructure in certain regions, concerns about player welfare and sustainability, and the ongoing battle against online toxicity and cheating. The market segmentation reveals significant opportunities. Media rights currently likely dominate revenue, given the significant viewership, but advertising and sponsorships are rapidly growing as brands recognize the engaged and valuable demographic. While North America and Europe currently hold substantial market share, the Asia-Pacific region, fueled by China, India, and South Korea, is expected to witness phenomenal growth in the coming years, driven by increased internet penetration and a burgeoning gaming culture. The competitive landscape is dominated by major players like Electronic Arts, Activision Blizzard, and Tencent, but smaller companies and independent leagues also contribute significantly to the ecosystem. Understanding these dynamics is critical for companies looking to capitalize on the vast potential of the global esports market. Strategic partnerships, innovative revenue models, and a focus on player well-being will be key to success in this dynamic and competitive environment. This comprehensive report provides an in-depth analysis of the global esports market, covering the period from 2019 to 2033. With a base year of 2025 and an estimated year of 2025, the report forecasts market growth from 2025 to 2033, leveraging historical data from 2019 to 2024. The report analyzes key market trends, identifies dominant segments and regions, profiles leading players, and assesses the impact of technological advancements and regulatory changes. This report is vital for investors, businesses, and anyone seeking to understand the rapidly evolving esports landscape. Expect detailed insights into revenue streams, streaming platforms, and the competitive dynamics shaping this multi-billion dollar industry. Recent developments include: January 2022 - A new category of 1440p NVIDIA G-SYNC esports screens and seven new games benefit from low latency thanks to NVIDIA Reflex. Since reducing system latency is recognized by gamers and game developers as essential to a quality gaming experience, the NVIDIA Reflex low latency ecosystem has grown significantly over the past year. Eight top-ten competitive shooters, including Apex Legends, Valorant, and Fortnite, support Reflex. Each month, more than 20 million GeForce gamers battle with Reflex ON. More than 50 mouse and screens support their Reflex Analyzer, enabling players to assess system latency quickly. Such developments are expected to flourish the esports market in the forecast period., February 2022 - Nintendo delivered its first Direct event of 2022 in a 40-minute presentation that featured several brand-new games and remakes. Highlights from Nintendo Direct 2022: Switch Sports, Mario Strikers, and announcements of other games. The market is expected to expand due to the release of multiple games.. Key drivers for this market are: Increasing Popularity of Video Games, Growing Awareness about eSports. Potential restraints include: Issues Such as Piracy, Laws and Regulations, and Concerns Relating to Fraud During Gaming Transactions. Notable trends are: Advertising to be the Largest Sources of eSports Revenue.

Published by Nintendo and released in October 2017, Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp is a simulation video game in which players are invited to decorate a campsite for which they are responsible, try to find and trade resources to get random rewards, and build up their settlement. The game enjoyed great success in April 2020, amassing over seven million downloads worldwide. This sharp growth in downloads is no doubt in part due to the success of the Nintendo Switch exclusive Animal Crossing: New Horizons, which was released in March 2020.

As of the financial year 2024, Nintendo had a total number of 7,724 employees globally. The number of employees at Nintendo witnessed an increase of nearly three thousand employees in the past eleven years, peaking in 2024. Nintendo Beginning as a small Japanese playing card manufacturer in 1889, today Nintendo is one of the biggest names in the video game industry. Generating billions of dollars each year through the sales of its consoles, games and merchandise, the company now ranks among the most valuable brands in the world. Some of the best-selling Nintendo video game consoles include the Nintendo DS and the Nintendo Wii. The Nintendo Switch, the company’s newest generation console product, became an instant best-seller upon its debut in March 2017 and has sold 70.92 million units as of November 2020. The success of the Switch solidifies Nintendo’s standing in the game console industry and brought it back onto the course of revenue growth.

First launched in 2002, the Xbox Network is an online multiplayer service associated with Microsoft’s Xbox line of consoles. As of December 2022, Microsoft's online gaming service had approximately 120 million monthly active users, up from just under 40 million at the beginning of 2016. The service was known as Xbox Live before rebranding into Xbox network in March 2023 and to differentiate it from the Xbox Live Gold subscription service offering.

Xbox Live perks Xbox network is available as a free service, but it also has a paid tier called Xbox Live Gold. Many of the key features that gamers look for in the service, such as online gaming and access to exclusive games, are restricted to the Gold service. The Gold service also includes a Games with Gold program, in which gamers are offered access to digital downloads of games every month. Xbox One gamers have access to two games every month, with the cumulative retail value of these games reaching a combined 712 U.S. dollars throughout 2022.

 King of the consoles? The Xbox Series S/X is the current generation of Xbox consoles and competes neck-to-neck with Sony's PlayStation 5 which were both released in November 2020, as well as the Nintendo Switch console which was launched in March 2017. When looking North American sales, the Xbox Series S/X has already surpassed the Nintendo Wii U and the Dreamcast but still is lagging behind the PlayStation 5. Additionally, the majority of Xbox gaming revenue is not derived from hardware sales but through gaming content and service sales.

In 2024, Nintendo Switch generated over ten billion U.S. dollars globally for Nintendo, its lowest sales revenue since 2020 when the Switch platform generated a record about 11.3 billion U.S. dollars in sales revenue. Nintendo Switch has been the company's flagship gaming console since its release in 2017, quickly overtaking Nintendo 3DS's popularity to become Nintendo's most sold product.

The three primary players in the console gaming market are Microsoft, Nintendo, and Sony, with a combined installed base of over 142 million gaming consoles in 2020. The global installed base of console gaming hardware for Sony is forecast to reach 59.3 million units by 2025.

In the financial year ending March 2024, Nintendo generated just over four billion U.S. dollars in revenue in the United States alone. This accounted for over a third of its annual revenues, making the U.S. the largest market for Nintendo. Europe followed, where Nintendo generated nearly three billion U.S. dollars in sales revenue. Overall, Nintendo’s total revenue for FY 2024 was just over 11 billion U.S. dollars, marking a decrease of around one million U.S. dollars compared to the previous year. This continues a trend of declining revenue that began after reaching a decade high of around 16 billion U.S. dollars in FY 2021. Nintendo Switch tops the market The Nintendo Switch has been a major revenue driver for the company, accounting for over 94 percent of Nintendo’s revenue in that year. Since its launch in 2017, the Nintendo Switch has sold nearly 130 million units and has consistently outperformed other current-generation consoles in global sales each year, up until 2022. Nintendo’s game consoles have always enjoyed global popularity, with three of its consoles ranking among the top 5 best-selling game consoles of all time. Notably, Nintendo is the only company to have a current-generation console among the top- 5 all-time best-selling game consoles. Nintendo games leading global sales When it comes to game titles, Nintendo boasts three of the top- ten best-selling console games of all time. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe has sold over 55 million units, leading the pack as the top-selling Nintendo Switch game based on lifetime sales as of June 2023. Hot on its heels are Pokémon Scarlet and Pokémon Violet, the best-selling Nintendo titles in FY 2023 with 22 million units sold since their release in 2022. Other popular titles include Animal Crossing: New Horizons, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, and The Legend of Zelda, each contributing significantly to Nintendo’s success. Overall, Nintendo sold more than 235 million units of software for its Nintendo Switch gaming console in FY 2022 alone.

In 2024, Nintendo's net sales amounted to just over 11 billion U.S. dollars, down from over 12 billion a year earlier. Nintendo is a multinational consumer electronics and software company headquartered in Kyoto, Japan. Nintendo history Founded in September 1889 as a small Japanese firm producing handmade playing cards, Nintendo has evolved into one of the largest video game manufacturing companies. Operating as a single business segment, Nintendo’s operations are categorized by product type such as video game platforms, mobile, and playing cards. Most of Nintendo’s revenue is generated through sales of video game platforms. Nintendo, PlayStation, and Xbox Of the all-time sales of video game consoles, Nintendo registers three devices in the top five – Nintendo DS, Game Boy, and Nintendo Switch. PlayStation devices complete the top five list with the PlayStation 2 and PlayStation 4 featured, while the Xbox 360 is the only device under the Xbox brand that makes its way into the top ten rankings. Of the leading current-generation game consoles, the PlayStation 5 has recorded notably more sales compared to the Nintendo Switch and Xbox Series X/S.

In the fiscal year ending March 2024, Nintendo generated approximately 443.3 billion yen through digital gaming sales. This includes sales of downloadable versions of packaged software, download-only software, add-on content and Nintendo Switch Online, and similar. During the measured period, digital sales accounted for 50.2 percent of the company's gaming software sales.

As of March 2023, PlayStation Plus was the most popular gaming subscription service worldwide, with over 47.4 million subscribers worldwide. Second-ranked Nintendo Switch Online had 36 million global subscribers. Microsoft Game Pass has also been steadily gaining users and most recently reported 25 million subscribers. Cloud gaming and gaming subscriptions services have grown in popularity in recent years, headed by the almost obligatory use for console gamers as many experiences, such as online multiplayer, require such a subscription. PlayStation Plus is constantly evolving Currently, Sony’s PlayStation Plus subscription service exists as a paid-only membership service with three different tiers: Essential, Extra, and Premium. The key benefits of free monthly games, multiplayer access, discounts, and cloud storage are applied to all levels. However, the more expensive tiers also have free access to a gaming catalog of PS4 and PS5 games, as well as classic PS1 to PS3 games and cloud streaming access for select gaming titles.

According to PlayStation gamers in 2022, the main reason they subscribed to PlayStation Plus was the online multiplayer, followed by the monthly free games gifted to subscribers. In 2022, the retail value of video games offered for free to PlayStation Plus Essential subscribers amounted to over 1,300 U.S. dollars. Xbox Game Pass has been making moves Microsoft has been aggressively bulking up the offerings of its Xbox Game Pass. On January 18, 2022, the company announced plans to acquire gaming company Activision Blizzard and to begin integrating Activision's catalog of games into Game Pass. The acquisition has not been completed yet, as it is still under regulatory review in several countries. According to a gamer survey in the United States, it was found that the inclusion of certain Activision Blizzard gaming franchises was likely to make them subscribe to Xbox Game Pass. Particularly best-selling shooter Call of Duty was the title most likely to cause non-subscribing gamers to subscribe to the service.

As of September 2024, Nintendo had sold approximately 1.3 billion software units for its Nintendo Switch gaming console, making it the company's most successful gaming system in terms of video game sales. Lifetime unit sales for Wii console gaming software amounted to 921 million.