A recent report indicates that sales figures for third-party games on the Switch 2 are falling short of expectations

Despite the Nintendo Switch 2 being one of the fastest-selling consoles in history, sales of third-party games have reportedly fallen short of expectations.

As reported by The Game Business, even with strong support from partners such as EA, Take-Two, Microsoft, Ubisoft, Sega, Capcom, Bandai Namco, Square Enix, CD Projekt, and Konami, third-party game sales did not meet projections. Although these publishers have performed better than during the first Switch's launch, "most third-party Switch 2 games posted very low numbers."

NielsenIQ data indicates that CD Projekt's Cyberpunk 2077 is the best-selling third-party title on the new console. However, report author Christopher Dring highlighted that despite slight improvements from the Switch 1's launch, "It’s hard to describe these statistics as positive."

"Most third-party Switch 2 games posted very low numbers," Dring notes. One publisher referred to the performance as ‘below our lowest estimates’ despite solid hardware sales. This improvement is misleading, Dring argues, because the Switch 2 had a more extensive selection of 13 physical launch titles compared to just five for the original Switch.

Dring also mentioned that the absence of early review units for the press may have negatively affected game sales, as consumers lacked expert reviews to guide their purchases.

Earlier this week, it was reported that Nintendo Switch 2 exceeded 1.1 million units sold in the U.S., achieving record-setting launch week sales for consoles. Japanese sales approached one million units, marking it as the biggest console launch there.

The Game Business newsletter is authored by Christopher Dring, the former head of games, B2B for GamesIndustry.biz.