The Nintendo Switch is about to become the second console to sell a billion games

The Nintendo Switch is on the cusp of becoming just the second console to see one billion software sales.

Earlier today on February 7, Nintendo released new investor relations information, revealing that the lifetime software sales for the Nintendo Switch totalled 994.3 million units. In other words, the Nintendo Switch will realistically surpass one billion game sales within the foreseeable future.

When the Switch achieves this milestone, it'll become just the second games console to surpass the one billion software sales count. The first, and currently only, console to achieve this figure is the PS2, which Sony revealed back in 2011 had sold in excess of 1.5 billion games around the world in its lifetime.

This announcement of 1.5 billion games sold on the PS2 came 11 years after the console first launched in 2000. The Switch, meanwhile, is about to hit two thirds of that final figure after nearly six years on the market (the Switch originally launched worldwide in March 2017), meaning it's outpacing the PS2 in lifetime games sold.

While it's always a possibility that the Switch could surpass the PS2's lifetime game sales figure, the chances are slim. A recent rumor claimed Nintendo would unveil the Switch's successor next year in 2024, and if this rumor holds up, it could potentially mean decreased game and hardware sales for the Switch, as prospective customers hold off for the next Nintendo console.

Elsewhere in Nintendo's new announcements, it was revealed the Nintendo Switch had surpassed the PS4 in lifetime sales to become the third best-selling console ever. At 122.55 lifetime units sold since 2017, the Switch has a fair way to go if it wants to overtake the Nintendo DS in the second position, and the PS2 at the top spot, both sitting around 150 million total units sold.

Check out our upcoming Switch games guide for a full look over all the titles yet to come for Nintendo's console.