The Nintendo Switch 2's first year is already a sales record: the console reached 15.59 million units sold worldwide by September 30, 2025, per Nintendo's earnings data as charted by VGChartz — well ahead of the PlayStation 5's equivalent launch window — and it became the fastest-selling console in US history, with 4.4 million units sold in the US in 2025 per Circana data reported by VGC. That is the context for the lineup that actually defined the machine's first eight months on shelves.
Which games carried the launch window?
Mario Kart World arrived alongside the hardware on June 5, 2025 — the day midnight store openings drew queues worldwide, per the BBC's launch-day coverage — and it remains the system's defining bundle pick. July brought Donkey Kong Bananza on July 17, 2025, the big single-player platformer of the summer. The fall thickened fast: Pokémon Legends: Z-A on October 16, Kirby Air Riders on November 13, and Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment on November 20, 2025.
What closed out year one?
Metroid Prime 4: Beyond, released December 4, 2025, was the holiday anchor — and it landed commercially too, debuting at number seven on the US December software charts per Circana data cited by Nintendo Everything. For a system often described as multiplayer-first, closing the calendar with a solo sci-fi epic says a lot about how broad the library got.
Why the sales pace matters for readers
A record install base means publishers keep bringing games over, and it means the second-hand and accessories ecosystem matures quickly. For collectors, launch-window stock and first-print editions of Mario Kart World and Metroid Prime 4: Beyond are the 2025 items most likely to be discussed in future years — not because anyone should speculate, but because first-year first-party print runs are the ones future reprints get compared against. Reuters reported at launch, on June 5, 2025, that the $499.99 console launched globally with shortages expected amid pent-up demand; the supply has long since normalized, and the software cadence has not slowed.
The short version: year one delivered a new 3D Donkey Kong, a mainline-adjacent Pokémon, a Zelda spinoff, a Kirby racer, and a long-awaited Metroid — plus the fastest hardware start in US history. That is a full shelf for eight months, and the reason the machine's year-two slate is the one to watch.
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