Nintendo Switch closes in on 70m units sold worldwide

The Nintendo Switch has sold over 68.3 million units worldwide as of the end of September.

That's according to the platform holder's earnings report for the three months ending September 30 – as spotted by Gematsu – which shows that Nintendo managed to shift an impressive 6.86 million consoles and 49.81 million games during the summer.

These strong sales have been helped out by some serious heavy-hitters in the company's roster; Super Mario 3D All-Stars has managed to sell 5.21 million units since launch – just 12 days before the end of September – while Animal Crossing: New Horizons has racked up 14.27 million sales since its March release.

Nintendo notes that New Horizons is still the second-biggest Switch game, beaten only by Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, which has managed to shift a whopping 28.99 million units.

Consider Animal Crossing: New Horizons has been out almost three years less than Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, though, and you start to get an idea of just how popular Tom Nook's latest venture really is.

Nintendo expects these strong sales to continue, too. The latest earnings report notes that the platform holder has revised its Nintendo Switch hardware sales forecast from 19 million units to 24 million units – revealing that Nintendo expects to sell another 5 million consoles over the winter period (thanks VGC).

With the way things are going, that doesn't seem too unlikely: we've got Black Friday and the Christmas period to look forward to, after all.