Nintendo Switch is on the rise as Xbox and PS battle it out

Reading time icon 6 min. read


Readers help support Windows Report. When you make a purchase using links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Tooltip Icon

Read the affiliate disclosure page to find out how can you help Windows Report effortlessly and without spending any money. Read more

Key notes

  • Not everyone is interested in acquiring a PlayStation 5 or an Xbox Series X|S.
  • Actually, a lot more people than you thought will prefer the Nintendo Switch.
  • The popularity of the handheld Nintendo console is bigger than you thought.
switch

Its 2022 and the debate still rages on between which gaming experience is the best one, PC or gaming console.

If you are a bigger fan of the latter, then this article will be right up your alley, regardless of the brand you chose to get your device from.

By far, the most popular consoles in everyone’s eyes are Sony’s PlayStation and Microsoft’s Xbox. We’ve long moved on since Atari and Sega Mega Drive consoles, so we’re not even going to take it there.

However, many of you know that Nintento’s Switch is no push over when it comes to popularity, so we’re about to take a closer look at which of the above-mentioned brands is actually on the top.

Spoiler alert, when two adversaries are busy figting each other, another contender will simply swoop in and steal everyone’s hearts.

Nintendo Switch is more desirable than PS5 or Xbox Series X

Yes, even though many will try to dispute this claim, this is the actual truth. We might think that Sony and Microsoft are the uncontested champions when it comes to console popularity, but they’re not.

And yes, we are about to backup this statement with tangible proof, which will depict the reality exactly as it is, unaltered, just as you’ve gotten used to reading material on our website.

Online gaming website Cribbage Challenge experts have conducted an analysis for Google searches from the past twelve months.

The objective? To see what console gamers from each European country are interested in the most. And the results will surely raise a lot of eyebrows.

The result of the above-mentioned study has actually found that the Nintendo Switch was the most searched in 24 countries, with the largest numbers being in France, Spain, and the Netherlands.

You might now know, but Nintendo has sold more than 108 million Switch units since its official 2017 release, with over 28 million units sold only in Europe.

As you can see from the screenshot above, the situation for Microsoft’s Xbox gaming consoles is not as pink as everyone thought it was.

And, out of all the console exclusives, such as Forza Horizon (Xbox), or God of War (PlayStation), the absolute winner is actually Mario Kart 8 Deluxe.

Yes, this still remains the most popular title for console, considering that it has sold more than 46 million copies worldwide.

Compare that with the 20 million copies that God of War (2018) has sold, for example, and you will see that the difference is crushing.

What about PlayStation 5?

Circling back to Sony’s PlayStation 5, know that it was the most searched console in 20 countries, which further strengthens the dominations in front of its main adversary, Xbox.

Among the countries where the PS5 is the most popular are Germany, Norway, and Turkey, where Sony’s next-gen console leads by miles in popularity.

Two months ago (June 2022), the company announced that sales for the PlayStation 5 reached 20 million worldwide, even with the stock shortages since its release in 2020.

Another factor to take into consideration here is the fact that sales in Europe for the PS5 actually decreased by 44% in the first half of this year.

With stock shortages having a knock-on effect for sales of the next generation, it’s clear from this data where those effects are at most. Despite selling less than Microsoft’s counterpart, the PS5 remains the most searched, showing there is still demand for it despite the lack of stock across Europe. It’ll be interesting to see how sales truly fare when stock is at a consistent amount.

What about Xbox Series X|S?

We’re not going so stop here, and we will continue by saying that this study also found that the Xbox Series X only reigned in popularity in three countries.

To be more specific, we are looking at dominance over Hungary, Kosovo, and as everyone expected, the United Kingdom.

Since the official 2020 release, the Xbox console has sold over 15 million units and is now beating the PS5 in sales across the past three quarters.

That being said, even though sales numbers favor Microsoft’s gaming console, it seems that people are still looking at the PlayStation 5 as a viable alternative.

However, as we are about to show you, that wasn’t always the case when it comes to sold units, and Xbox still has a lot of ground to cover in this sales war.

Sony sold twice as many PS4 consoles than Microsoft did Xbox One

We’re not sure if you were aware of this, but there’s actually high-profile case is ongoing in Brazil. And no, its not the sequel to the Johnny Depp versus Amber Heard, we’re still talking about consoles.

Apparently, Microsoft is attempting to defend its Activision Blizzard acquisition from the Brazilian competition authority, and some pretty interesting details have surfaced as a result.

Some official court documents revealed that the Xbox One gaming console from Microsoft, the Series X|S’ predecessor, sold less than half of Sony’s PlayStation 4 since they were both released.

You surely want to see numbers, so let’s get right into it. The Japanese company responsible for the PlayStation has recently released their final PS4 sales figures.

You won’t be surprised to find out that the 117.2 million people bought the PlayStation 4, making it the second biggest home console of all time.

Judging from those numbers, we can deduce that Xbox One consoles must have sold less than approximately 58.5 million units.

Fell free to laugh at this if you want, but these stats actually place the Xbox One right below the NES, and only just above the SNES consoles.

So, this just goes to show you that reality isn’t always what we choose it to be, and numbers will never lie when it comes to crunching them.

Why did the Switch win this battle between the console-making giants? Well, the first thing that comes to mind is its versatility.

You don’t need a TV or a screen to play games on your Switch, making it an obvious favorite. And, we’ll just see how the Steam Deck will face off against the Nintendo Switch.

Of course, you can use Xbox Cloud Gaming and PS Now to play your favorite console games wherever you are, but it still won’t beat the Switch in terms of portability and accessibility.

Out of the three consoles in this article, which one is by far your favorite? Share your thoughts with us in the comments section below.

More about the topics: gaming console, Playstation 5, Xbox Series X