PlayStation 2 soon to be left in the dust following new official Nintendo Switch update

A new Nintendo Switch sales update has almost put it in pole position, with only a few million units sold behind the PlayStation 2.

Nintendo has issued a new update on the number of Nintendo Switch units that have been sold in its lifetime, boasting an incredibly impressive 156.59 million units sold as of June 30, 2026.

Earlier this year, the Switch surpassed the Nintendo DS with 154.02 million consoles shifted, putting it in second place as the best-selling video game console of all time just behind the Sony PlayStation 2.

With it still being on the market despite last year’s launch of the Nintendo Switch 2, we reckon it could eventually surpass the number of PlayStation 2 units sold, which currently sits at 160 million.

However, it’ll probably have to do this within the next year or so, as Nintendo has announced it’ll be discontinuing original Switch models in Europe from February 2027, and will likely do the same in other territories following that.

Considering the console has still sold just over 2.5 million units within the last twelve months, that’s a pretty incredible feat when it’s currently the weakest video game console on the market. I guess most people don’t really care how powerful their platform is, as long as they can play Mario Kart and Animal Crossing on it.

Meanwhile, the latest update from Nintendo also confirms that the Switch 2 has also sold 23.68 million units in the first year since launch, over twice as much as its predecessor.

Read More: Super Mario creator's 'B-Dash' anecdote proves AI could never make a video game icon

The Nintendo Switch is the company's best-selling video game console of all time

Released in March 2017, the Nintendo Switch reportedly sold 2.74 million units within the first month of sale, with The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild selling nearly 1-to-1 with the console sales.

By the end of 2017, the console had sold over 10 million units worldwide, with 20 million units sold in its second year. The console showed no signs of slowing down throughout the next three years, reaching over 100 million consoles sold by the end of 2021.

At 156.59 million units sold as of June 30, the only video game console that has sold more than that is the PlayStation 2, with 160 million units sold worldwide.

Aside from the incredible games library and nice form factor, one reason the PlayStation 2 was so popular is that it also shipped with a working DVD player in the disc drive, essentially trojan horsing it during a time where actual DVD players were a bit more expensive than games consoles.

DVDs were all the rage in 2000, and if families wanted to get both a DVD player to watch movies on, as well as a games console to play new video games, it made sense to kill two birds with one stone and purchase a PS2.

Sony announced that the console had sold 160 million units during the PlayStation 30th anniversary celebrations in November 2024.