Splatoon 2 and Nintendo Switch sales

Animal Crossing: New Horizons and Splatoon 2 Helped Push Nintendo Switch Sales Past 55 Million

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As part of its financial results, Nintendo has provided updated sales figures for a number of its first-party games on Nintendo Switch. Unsurprisingly, Animal Crossing: New Horizons is on the list, having sold 13.41 million units worldwide. It’s joined by the usual suspects—Pokémon, Mario Kart 8, Breath of the Wild, Super Mario Odyssey, and more.

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Total sales of the Nintendo Switch hardware sales have reached 55.77 million units worldwide. Nintendo and third-party developers have sold a combined total of 356.24 million units of software on the platform. (For context, the Nintendo 3DS had sold just 163 million units of software by this point in its life)

Here’s a look at 18 of Nintendo’s highest-selling Switch titles, and their sales as of March 31st, 2020:

Game Global Sales
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe 24.77 million
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate 18.84 million
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 17.41 million
Super Mario Odyssey 17.41 million
Pokémon Sword/Pokémon Shield 17.37 million
Animal Crossing: New Horizons 13.41 million
Pokémon: Let’s Go, Pikachu / Let’s Go, Eevee 11.97 million
Splatoon 2 10.13 million
New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe 6.60 million
Luigi’s Mansion 3 6.33 million
Super Mario Maker 2 5.48 million
The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening 4.38 million
Fire Emblem: Three Houses 2.87 million
Ring Fit Adventure 2.73 million
Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Rescue Team DX 1.26 million
Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Order 1.08 million
Astral Chain 1.08 million
Super Mario Party 1.01 million

Food for thought:

  • Splatoon 2 is officially part of the 10 million+ club and is the highest-selling new IP Nintendo has introduced since the Wii era.

 

  • Breath of the Wild’s sales are actually even higher than the list indicates. The Wii U version of the game has sold an additional 1.67 million units, which brings total sales to 19.08 million units. That means the game has outsold combined sales of Ocarina of Time, Majora’s Mask, The Wind Waker, and Skyward Sword. (19.06 million) It has also sold more than double the amount The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess has. (8.85 million)

 

  • Pokémon Sword and Pokémon Shield have already outsold every other Pokémon game released since 2006. They’re still behind Pokémon Diamond/Pearl (17.67 million) but will catch up very soon—if they haven’t already.

 

  • Mario Kart 8 Deluxe has outsold Mario Kart DS (23.6 million) and may go on to outsell Mario Kart Wii (37.32 million) over the next few years.

 

  • While they aren’t on the list, Donkey Kong Country Returns, ARMS, Xenoblade Chronicles 2, and a number of other first-party Switch games have sold well over a million units as well.

Nintendo also said that nine third-party Nintendo Switch games sold over a million units this past fiscal year, but didn’t name or provide updated sales figures for them.

The Nintendo Switch sold 3.29 million units during January – March 2020 (up 33% during the same period last year). Amidst manufacturing complications caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Switch has been facing shortages for the past month or two, so it’s possible that figure could have been even higher under different circumstances.


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Author
Image of Ishaan Sahdev
Ishaan Sahdev
Ishaan specializes in game design/sales analysis. He's the former managing editor of Siliconera and wrote the book "The Legend of Zelda - A Complete Development History". He also used to moonlight as a professional manga editor. These days, his day job has nothing to do with games, but the two inform each other nonetheless.