Nintendo has sold more than 10 million Switch consoles, the Japanese video games giant has announced, despite the machine only having been on the market for nine months.

The milestone indicates a similar pace to Sony's incredibly popular PlayStation 4, which also sold that many units in its first nine months. The Switch numbers are comparatively impressive, however, as the console launched in March. This means the sales numbers will not yet take into account the many consoles presumably leaving store shelves over the holidays. The PlayStation 4 launched in November 2013.

The result is also notable because it's indicative of a massive turnaround for Nintendo and its home console business. Its previous machine, the Wii U, was an unmitigated flop in terms of sales. With only 13 million units sold over its five years on the market, it could possibly be outsold by its successor in the Switch's very first year.

The Switch's success can be partly attributed to the novelty of its form factor. A machine that can be plugged into a TV or taken on the go to play the same games portably, it appeals both to dedicated gamers that want a way to play away from home and general consumers that don't necessarily want to sit in their living room with an Xbox or PlayStation. Compared to the Wii U it's also more capable, nicer looking, far easier to use and came alongside marketing that's been much easier to understand.

Backing up the solid hardware has been a games lineup of almost unprecedented quality for a machine in its first year. The machine launched alongside The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, which was recognised last week at The Game Awards as the best game of the year. October saw Super Mario Odyssey, which many would argue is just as good.

Between other new Nintendo games like Snipperclips and ARMS, and third-party exclusives like Ultra Street Fighter II and Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle, Nintendo revived some Wii U games like Mario Kart 8, Pokken Tournament and Splatoon for a second life on the new console. Some third party games, like SteamWorld Dig 2 and Sonic Mania, came to the console at the same time they were released elsewhere and sold comparatively very well, which has been rare for Nintendo consoles for a long time.

As the Switch picked up steam publishers began to realise that gamers with the system were willing to buy older games they might already own in order to play them portably. The likes of Shovel Knight and Stardew Valley were obvious choices, but more recently heavy hitters including Doom, Skyrim, LA Noire, Rocket League and Resident Evil: Revelations Collection have come across.

Can the momentum continue?

All eyes will now turn to whether Nintendo can sustain its success in 2018. Converts might be prepared to play every new game on the Switch, but the reality is many of the biggest games will remain exclusive to PC and the more powerful machines from Sony and Microsoft. Switch has succeeded this year off the back of frequent high-quality Nintendo titles, a smartly curated selection of indies and third party titles, and some blockbuster back-catalogue ports from big developers. It will need to do so again next year.

As it stands the full slate for Switch in 2018 is unclear.  Nintendo plans to release new entries in the Yoshi, Kirby and Fire Emblem franchises for the machine, but that's about the extent of its confirmed first party lineup at this time. It has confirmed new Pokemon and Metroid Prime games are also in the works, but has not announced launch timings. A small number of brand new, Switch-exclusive games not made by Nintendo have been confirmed, including a new No More Heroes game and the Square Enix RPG codenamed Project Octopath Traveller.

The cult Wii U game Bayonetta 2 will be re-released on Switch next year as well, with a third entry coming exclusively to the machine some time in the future. Bethesda will follow up its big ports of Skyrim and Doom with a version of Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus for Switch. Starbreeze will — a bit bizarrely — bring across its cooperative heist game PayDay 2, and Red Barrels has confirmed its found-footage-style horror series Outlast is on the way.

Other than that the known 2018 slate is made up primarily of small but popular games either being ported to the Switch from other consoles (Owlboy, Hollow Knight, Mega Man Collection and its sequel) or coming to Switch alongside the other machines (Bloodstained, Kentucky Route Zero, Mega Man 11, Street Fighter 30th Anniversary Collection).

Games aside, Nintendo may also look to build out the features of the machine itself, which currently allows the playing and purchasing of games and not much else. It has promised a paid subscription service, which allows users to play online and gives them access to a library of classic Nintendo titles, will launch some time in 2018.