EA's founder just made a huge Nintendo Switch 2 sales prediction
100 million units? No problem at all for Nintendo Switch 2
🤔 The founder of EA, Trip Hawkins, has made a bold prediction for the popularity of the Nintendo Switch 2
📈 Hawkins believes that the console may become the fifth Nintendo console to reach the hallowed 100 million sales mark
👶 His argument centres around the universal appeal of Nintendo from people through all age ranges
🌎 In addition, the $449.99 price tag seems justified also due to the wide appeal Nintendo has
Trip Hawkins, the man responsible for founding EA back in 1982 and bringing the 3DO to market in 1994, has dished out huge praise for the Nintendo Switch 2, as well as offering a huge prediction for the console's sales.
In a recent editorial on Medium (thanks, GamesBeat), Hawkins made the case for the Switch 2 being an example of Nintendo expanding their reach as an organization, with the new console at the forefront, given their unique position as a brand with recognizable IPs that appeal to all ages.
As such, he has predicted that the Switch 2 will hit 100 million sales over its lifetime, as “we're not in Kansas anymore, and Nintendo brands are not just for kids”.
It would make the Switch 2 the fifth Nintendo platform to hit the magic 100 million units, following on from its predecessor, as well as the DS and Game Boy handhelds, as well as the Wii. According to Hawkins, the only other consoles to do so were the PlayStation, PS2, and PS4.
Hawkins argument centers around the idea that people have grown up with Nintendo, with the likes of Mario and Donkey Kong having been around for the best part of four decades, and with it, it gives them unique cultural capital among both kids themselves, and their parents, who may be first-gen Nintendo enjoyers, as it were.
As a result of this universal appeal, he also claims the $449.99 retail price for the console may seem reasonable, given it can be justified by certain family members in as the Switch 2 can be the 'family console'. The same arguments were no doubt made for the original Switch, and before it, the Wii.
The Switch 2 has also received high praise from developers for its exciting new features and transformative increase in power, although a former president of Sony was less enthusiastic about Nintendo’s new system.
The console itself is up for pre-order now (when in stock), ahead of its June 5 release date.
Reece Bithrey is a journalist with bylines for Trusted Reviews, Digital Foundry, PC Gamer, TechRadar and more. He also has his own blog, UNTITLED, and graduated from the University of Leeds with a degree in International History and Politics in 2023.