Switch Surpasses PS4 Lifetime Sales In US, Elden Ring Tops COD: Vanguard In Less Than 3 Months

April 2022 will go down as a historic month for Nintendo’s Switch console because it’s the month the hybrid console surpassed the lifetime sales of the PlayStation 4 in the U.S. 

The following news is from The NPD Group’s Mat PiscatellaThe monthly U.S. videogame hardware, software, and accessory sales data is provided by, which reports on the following: This month’s news includes an overall decline in consumer video game spending, down 8%, to $4.3 billion, compared to April of last year. The year-to-date spending for 2022 is also lower at 8% than it was one year ago. It now stands at $18.3 trillion. However, it was still a great month for video game hardware – especially the Switch. 

“Lifetime unit sales of Nintendo Switch have now surpassed those of PlayStation 4, making it the 4th highest unit selling console in U.S. history, and the 6th highest unit selling video game hardware platform overall. In console it trails only PS2, Xbox 360, and Wii.” 

As you can see in Piscatella’s tweet above, the Switch broke a new record last month, and considering it’s still going to be Nintendo’s console for the foreseeable future (although we wouldn’t mind a Switch 2 or Switch Pro right about now), there’s a chance it could continue to climb up the list of best-selling consoles. In April 2022 as well as all of 2022 year-to date, the Switch had the most unit sales of any platform. The Xbox Series X/S consoles ranked second for the same time periods. 

The overall sales of video games hardware increased by 16% over last year to reach $343 million. Piscatella attributes a higher supply of Xbox Series X/S and PlayStation 5 consoles to the market than April 2021. Although spending on hardware has fallen 9% year to date, it is still down $1.5 billion. 

For Sony, the company’s PlayStation 5 led April 2022 in hardware dollar sales (mind you, not unit sales), followed closely by the Xbox Series X/S and Switch, Piscatella writes. The Xbox Series X/S is the platform that has produced the highest hardware dollar sales year to date, but it was followed closely by PS5 and Switch. If you’re wondering how, especially with the Switch selling more units than both, it’s because the Switch has a cheaper price tag. 

Lego Star Wars The Skywalker Saga, a software game, was number one in April 2022. In fact, it became the second-best-selling videogame of all time. It also ranked as the #1 game on Nintendo’s PlayStation 3 and Steam. On top of that, The Skywalker Saga had the highest launch-month dollar sales of any Lego game in the franchise’s history and already, after just one month on the market, is the sixth best-selling Lego game life-to-date. Skywalker Saga was also the first title to take first place on Switch since March 20,21. Monster Hunter Rise came in second. 

To probably nobody’s surprise, From Software’s Elden Ring was the second best-selling title of the month, two months after its release. It remains the best-selling game of the year so far and has now surpassed Call of Duty: Vanguard to become the best-selling “premium game of the trailing 12-month period ending April 2022,” Piscatella writes on Twitter.  

These are the 10 top-selling videogames of April 2022: 

1. Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga
2. Elden Ring
3. MLB The Show 22
4. Kirby and The Forgotten Land
5. Nintendo Switch Sports
6. Call of Duty: Vanguard
7. Horizon Forbidden West
8. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe
9. Gran Turismo 7
10. Pokemon Legends: Arceus

And here are the top 10 best-selling games of 2022 year-to-date:

1. Elden Ring
2. Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga
3. Pokémon Legends: Arceus
4. Horizon Forbidden West
5. MLB The Show 22
6. Gran Turismo 7
7. Call of Duty: Vanguard
8. Kirby and the Forgotten Land
9. Madden NFL 22
10. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe

Check out this site for more information Piscatella’s entire NPD threadThe report includes breakdowns of top console platforms and video-game accessory spending. Catch up on March’s NPD numbers to read about how the Xbox Series X/S was the best-selling console in dollar sales in the U.S. after that. 

Are you currently playing Elden Ring in the game? Let us know what you’re favorite boss has been so far in the comments below!