Nintendo has traditionally not done all that well in the U.K., the mad success of the Wii and DS notwithstanding. They were never big there with the NES, SNES, N64, and GameCube, and even handhelds like the 3DS have faltered there.
Which is why the Switch’s performance there, while not in line with the insane success it is seeing in the rest of the world, is impressive nonetheless. The Switch saw great software sales- with Super Mario Odyssey, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe all selling over 300,000 copies there through the year. This is even more impressive when you consider that the Switch itself had only sold about 300,000 units in the U.K. by the week of October 27- which means we are looking at attach rates of nearly 100% here.
It remains to be seen if Nintendo can capitalize on this early success- limited though it is- to try and reclaim some marketshare in the country. As of right now, the Switch faces the barrier of having a very high price, with the console itself costing £280, and games costing £50. Once those prices start coming down, the Switch will probably start moving in higher numbers.
[GamesIndustry.biz via ResetEra]