Nintendo’s holiday momentum turned into hard numbers this week: the Switch 2 was the best-selling console in Japan, shifting 221,033 units for the week ending December 21, 2025, and Mario Kart World continued to steamroll the charts — pushing past roughly 2.5 million physical copies in Japan alone.
A Christmas-week spike
Famitsu’s latest charts (summarized by several outlets) show a clear winner. The Switch 2 sold 221,033 systems in that single week, leaving other platforms trailing — the PlayStation 5 family combined for far fewer units, and legacy hardware practically vanished from the weekly top-sellers. The Switch OLED and older Switch SKUs still moved some units, but nothing close to the S2’s pace.
Hardware for the week (select):- Switch 2 — 221,033
- Switch OLED — 18,864
- Switch Lite — 12,641
- PS5 Digital Edition — 13,231
- PS5 Pro — 1,927
- Mario Kart World (S2) — 115,729 / ~2,573,736
- Pokemon Legends: Z‑A (Switch 1) — 72,820 / 1,470,354
- Pokemon Legends: Z‑A (Switch 2) — 54,096 / 957,286
- Kirby Air Riders (S2) — 49,220 / 377,044
- Momotaro Dentetsu 2 (both platforms) — strong two-version performance
That kind of single-week push is part organic demand and part holiday buying patterns, but it’s also the continuation of a months-long upswing. Nintendo has already adjusted forecasts and leaned into the momentum — and the company’s release slate for S2 has only helped generate steam (see Nintendo’s updated sales outlook and release schedule). Nintendo Raises Switch 2 Forecast as Console Sales Soar and Nintendo Reconfirms the Switch 2 release plan as third parties ramp up.
Mario Kart World: record pace, bundle math
Mario Kart World led the software chart with 115,729 retail copies for the week and a lifetime in Japan listed at about 2.57 million according to the same dataset. That figure—and the wider 2.5M physical-sales number being reported elsewhere—owes a lot to the game’s dominance as a bundle title. Bundled copies count toward a game’s shipped/retail totals, and many Switch 2 buyers picked up the console in Mario Kart-tied packages.
Put another way: a lot of Switch 2 growth and Mario Kart World’s headline figure are two sides of the same coin. Bundles boosted early uptake, but the standalone sell-through remains strong as well. For perspective, Mario Kart World reached 2.5M in Japan in about 29 weeks — a much faster pace than past Mario Kart entries (Mario Kart Wii took far longer to hit similar milestones).
The rest of the chart — Nintendo’s familiar grip
The top ten remains Nintendo-centric. Pokemon Legends: Z‑A continued to sell in huge numbers across both Switch 1 and Switch 2 editions, while recent S2 releases like Kirby Air Riders and Donkey Kong Bananza placed well. Minecraft and long-tail catalog titles (Animal Crossing: New Horizons, older Mario Kart 8 Deluxe) still show healthy tails in Japan’s physical market.
Select software highlights (week / lifetime, Japan):Numbers like these underline how platform launches, major first‑party releases and bundles interact to amplify one another. Nintendo’s holiday push was a textbook example: a desirable system, a must-have marquee title, and timed bundle promotions.
Why this matters beyond the week
A rapid hardware install base matters because it changes the calculus for developers and publishers. More Switch 2s in Japanese homes makes multi-version launches (Switch 1 + Switch 2 editions) and timed S2 exclusives more attractive. That dynamic is already visible in the charts: new releases tailored for the S2 are charting higher on that platform.
For rivals, the story is less flattering. Sony and Microsoft still have strengths — particularly in Western markets and digital ecosystems — but the Japanese market is heavily Nintendo‑leaning, and this holiday surge only amplifies that. If you’re watching ecosystem battles, Japan’s retail numbers are a reminder that region-by-region strategies still matter.
A few small caveats
Physical charts don’t tell the whole story. Digital sales, bundles, and stock allocations between retailers affect week-to-week snapshots. Also, when a console launch is tied tightly to a single blockbuster, the early installed base will naturally skew toward owners of that game. That’s worth keeping in mind before calling any permanent market-shift.
Still, the scale here is notable: a fast-selling Mario Kart, an S2 holiday surge, and a software top ten dominated by Nintendo — that combination is rare and powerful.
If you’re tracking how this changes next year’s release strategies or third-party support, Nintendo’s momentum and the games helping it keep moving are the headlines to follow. And if you’re curious how competitors respond on the hardware side, don’t be surprised to see renewed focus on handheld and hybrid strategies across the industry — including more attention on premium refreshes like the PS5 Pro, which remains a part of Sony’s lineup and sales narrative (PS5 Pro is available on many retailer channels). PS5 Pro
No neat summary needed here — the numbers are the narrative. Nintendo rode its best-in-class first-party lineup and holiday timing into another dominant week in Japan, and Mario Kart World did the heavy lifting.