The Switch 2 has come out swinging, setting a new record as the fastest-selling console in history with more than 3.5 million units shipped in just a few days. While some eyebrows were initially raised at the $80 price tag on games like Mario Kart World, that hasn’t stopped Nintendo’s first-party titles from taking center stage.
Recent reports suggest that most third-party games on the Switch 2 are struggling to gain traction. According to The Game Business, citing data from NielsenIQ, 86% of physical game sales have been for first-party titles, a figure that includes the $500 bundled version of Mario Kart World.
Even when the bundle is excluded, first-party titles like The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom and others still account for 48% of physical game sales, an impressive share given that most of the launch lineup consisted of third-party offerings. Supporting this trend, Circana data shows that in the United States alone, first-party games made up 68% of physical sales, again without considering the bundle.
Meanwhile, third-party titles are having a tougher time. Sales have been weak, with some performing well below expectations. One anonymous publisher even admitted to The Game Business that numbers were lower than their most pessimistic forecasts.
Among the few exceptions is Cyberpunk 2077, a long-anticipated port that has managed to generate significantly more interest than other options.
Why are third-party titles lagging behind?
The Switch 2 is still in its early days, and many players may be holding off on buying additional games after already spending on the console. It doesn’t help that most third-party titles available are ports, which many gamers have already enjoyed elsewhere.
Backward compatibility with the original Switch also plays a big role here. If players already have a solid game library, there’s less urgency to pick up something new.
It’s also worth noting that the sales data so far only covers physical copies. That leaves out digital downloads, where third-party games often perform better—so things might not be quite as lopsided as they seem.
A more definitive test of how third-party titles might fare on the Switch 2 will come when a triple-A game launches across all platforms at the same time, such as Borderlands 4, expected later this year.