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Top 5 Most “Impressive” Sales from Nintendo Switch Games? (Worldwide)

I'd say Animal Crossing just for how massive it is. It came out at just the right time and profited from it as much as possible.

BotW would be second seeing as it even outsold the console at launch and managed to make Zelda great again, especially in Japan.

Ring Fit I'd personally give a third place, just because I myself didn't expect much from it after how it was marketed and the failure that was LABO. But I'm glad I was proven wrong there.

I'll give an honourable mention to Xenoblade Chronicles 2 because it finally managed to put that franchise on the map and sell way more than I would ever have dreamed a Xenoblade game would sell. It's also one of the few JRPGs that managed to get big numbers like that.
 
Octopath Traveler is another game that had a fantastic performance which made it influential.

Selling 2.5m+ units, mostly at full price, for a new 2D retro inspired JRPG was an impressive feat.
It opened the door to more AA content, revivals and games in the same HD-2D style.

Cant wait for DQIIIR !
 
Lelouch0612 said:
Octopath Traveler is another game that had a fantastic performance which made it influential.

Selling 2.5m+ units, mostly at full price, for a new 2D retro inspired JRPG was an impressive feat.
It opened the door to more AA content, revivals and games in the same HD-2D style.

Cant wait for DQIIIR !
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Good one. I would also add Untitled Goose Game which demonstrated that simple concepts (with good execution) can sell.

More generally, I would say that the Switch benefited from the diversification and increase in quality of mobile games. These games, who would otherwise be avoided by the console gamer crowd, were pushed to them through the Switch and they found them good. And that I think is what kickstarted a virtuous cycle of anticipation, discovery and recurrent purchases on the consumer side and interest for the platform for the publishers. And it all started with the surprising success of Shovel Knight way back then.

I went way off-topic but to sum it up, I think that Shovel Knight on the WiiU is what ultimately forbode the success of the third-party Switch software that we see today. Rain World, Hades, Katana Zero, Stardew Valley, What The Golf, Gorogoa, Dead Cells are some of success stories that owe part of their sales to it.
 
If we want other picks for games that did phenomenal on Switch, we have quite a few examples other than Nintendo games:

- Stardew Valley

- Rocket League (before going f2p)

- Cuphead

- Monster Hunter Rise (how come we didn't mention this one)

Those games sold extremely well, especially Stardew Valley.
 
Aleh said:
It’s not gonna sell almost 3 more millions even with the updates coming, I don’t think 👀
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Well doesn’t need to sell 3mil more, just 2.5mil more and that was from June 😝

The game is still selling in japan, no lower than 4K a week. We shall see if it gets a jump later
 
Have to weight it against expectations and in that case Ring Fit has to be the clear winner.

That genre should've been dead after the WII, but the game is selling millions.

BotW was a launch game and that going for it.
Animal Crossing was expected to be a mega hit and got the pandemic boost.

So yeah, it's Ring Fit for me.
 
BOTW was a game people were literally buying the system for early on and was itself a major factor in driving hardware sales. It had over a 1:1 attach rate at launch, lol.

It benefitted from being a launch game but it's success is so greatly outsized from most other launch window games too (including other Zelda games). It's really more akin to something like SMB1, Tetris GB, Mario 64 or even Wii Sports; a definitive launch title that was instrumental the the console's success and helped define it's overall market and ecosystem.
 
BOTW is number one followed by Ring Fit for me. Animal Crossing was on its way to a break out IMO. Always felt that MK8D would be the only Kart for Switch. So people were going to pick it up regardless.
 
My criteria is: paradigm shift. Which game sold well beyond their historical and contextual constraints?

The Legend of Zelda series
1. Breath of the Wild (23.2 million and counting)
2. Twilight Princess (8.85 million)
3. Ocarina of Time (7.6 million)
4. The Legend of Zelda (6.51 million)
5. Link's Awakening (5.49 million)

Super Smash Bros. series
1. Ultimate (24.77 million and counting)
2. For Wii U/3DS (15 million)
3. Brawl (13.32 million)
4. Melee (7.41 million)
5. 64 (5.5 million)

Animal Crossing series
1. New Horizons (33.89 million and counting)
2. New Leaf (12.93 million)
3. Wild World (11.75 million)
4. City Folk (4.32 million)
5. Happy Home Designer (3.47 million)

Mario Party series
1. Super Mario Party (15.72 million and counting)
2. Mario Party DS (9.31 million)
3. Mario Party 8 (8.85 million)
4. Mario Party 9 (3.11 million)
5. Mario Party Island Tour (2.9 million)

Mario Kart series
1. Mario Kart Wii (37.38 million)
2. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (37.08 million and counting)
3. Mario Kart DS (23.6 million)
4. Mario Kart 7 (18.94 million)
5. Mario Kart 64 (9.87 million)

Pokemon series
1. Red/Blue/Green (31.05 million)
2. Gold/Silver (23.73 million)
3. Sword/Shield (21.85 million and counting)
4. Diamond/Pearl (17.67 million)
5. X/Y (16.53 million)

3D Mario series
1. Super Mario Odyssey (21.4 million and counting)
2. Super Mario 3D Land (12.81 million)
3. Super Mario Galaxy (12.8 million)
4. Super Mario 64 (11.91 million)
5. Super Mario 64 DS (11.06 million)

~

1. Animal Crossing: New Horizons: within the context of its series is honestly far more impressive to me looking at it now. It's easy in hindsight to think "Well of course it's going to sell incredibly well!", but I still think we underestimate New Horizon's time in our cultural consciousness. Yes, it was a "lightning in a bottle" moment as the perfect companion during the pandemic, but that shouldn't take away from the sheer selling power compared to its contemporaries. Within one year, it has already outsold all of the other mainline Animal Crossing games combined. It was the most important game of 2020, and Switch's most impressive seller so far.

2. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild: went into this thread thinking Breath of the Wild. The Legend of Zelda series has always been a, well... legendary franchise in its influence and legacy. Even so, it has never crossed the 10 million mark for a single release. Breath of the Wild has not only shattered the ceiling previously held by the series, but it continues to sell extraordinarily well more than four years later around the world. It's very impressive, and only will continue to extend its record setting sales.

3. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe: It's easy to not take special attention to 8 Deluxe when it's sitting among a plethora of other mega sellers. But remember that 8 Deluxe is "merely" an enhanced port of a previous game... and that it's about to be the best selling game in the franchise. Its sales over time are truly legendary, already outpacing games 3 years younger than itself (and are no slouches of their own!). By the time it's done selling, if it's ever done selling, it will have raised the bar to unprecedented heights.

4. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate: I understand why it has 0 votes. The Smash series continues to grow with every new title. Ultimate outselling 3DS + Wii U was expected, even before Switch was selling astronomical units. So its easy to hand wave Ultimate's success. But it didn't just surpass as dual system release, it has demolished the ceiling. It still sells incredibly well around the world, and has become a zeitgeist of gaming culture, hype, and celebration.

5. Super Mario Odyssey: Super Mario Odyssey has been somewhat overshadowed by Breath of the Wild as Switch's single player evergreen. 3D Mario has always outsold Zelda, until this generation. But that doesn't make Odyssey's sales unimpressive. Within the context of its own series, Odyssey has blown past the previous ceiling, where 3D Mario's has always hovered around the 10 million mark. And with no original 2D Mario title on the Switch, Odyssey has had plenty of room to stretch its legs and continue to sell to this day. Odyssey is among the top sellers for any Mario game, not just the 3D subgenre. And that's very impressive.
 
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This is not on the list but for me Astral Chain was such a surprise million-seller.

Platinum has a good reputation and Switch was popular but the game screamed niche to me.

Switch gave Team Ninja and Omega Force easy million-sellers thanks to their works using popular I.P.s which is great too but Astral Chain shows just how fertile the ground is on a Nintendo platform.

It was the type of game and type of performance that made PlayStation the darling of developers during the PS1 & PS2 days.
 
Animal Crossing went from 'Solid second tier ~10m Nintendo seller' to 'Biggest game in the world, even including Pokemon'
 
Animal Crossing, Ring Fit, and BoTW. AC has already reached 30 million copies sold and it only just released last year. And as for Ring Fit I thought fitness games would never really take off again, similar to how Brain Age and Nintendogs sequels had a really steep decline. BoTW sales are on another level compared to how the series use to sell.
 
Animal Crossing for sure. 50 million when all is said and done? Seems like GTA territory. I mean if they continued to add content like GTA for 3 generations it would definitely reach those heights.

What makes me the most happy though is botw sales. A huge breakout for the franchise and I really liked the direction they’ve taken the franchise in.
 
I forgot that BotW outsold the Switch at launch wow. Yeah its BotW, just an incredible performance.
 
Got be a tie between BoTW and Animal Crossing - both are looking at maybe tripling the previous best sales the series have seen. Truly insane numbers

Weird some people are downplaying Animal Crossings success. Yes the series was already a smash seller but it's going to minimum 3X those previous heights. It makes it even more impressive
 
I'd say Animal Crossing. I find the sales really impressive, literally the best-selling exclusive on the Switch. Its release timing was impeccable, and I think the next update/DLC has the chance to keep the train going to even greater heights, which is insane.
 
Monster Hunter Rise is up there for me; a third party exclusive selling 7.5 million in 6 months is really something.
 
Wow I choose Animal Crossing but I didn't even think the difference was so large, and now seeing 34M, I understand how adding the DLC to the expansion pack is going to be a great incentive for a very large % of the switch's install base,
 
curl-6 said:
Monster Hunter Rise is up there for me; a third party exclusive selling 7.5 million in 6 months is really something.
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If we're talking 3rd party, I'd add Momotaro Dentetsu as well. 3 million in about a year in one market (Japan). Konami has certainly benefited with its output on Switch.
 
Nintendo games have done amazingly well but I’m also impressed by smaller or lesser known stuff and third party games.

Octopath Traveler
Xenoblade 2
Monater Hunter Rise (closing in on 8 million on one platform)
Diablo 3
Hollow Knight
Among us (3 million first week?)
 
Nenned said:
If we're talking 3rd party, I'd add Momotaro Dentetsu as well. 3 million in about a year in one market (Japan). Konami has certainly benefited with its output on Switch.
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Agreed, Momotaro has been hugely impressive as well.
 
Mr_F_Snowman said:
Weird some people are downplaying Animal Crossings success. Yes the series was already a smash seller but it's going to minimum 3X those previous heights. It makes it even more impressive
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To put it in perspective: Animal Crossing almost sold in one year, on a single platform, what Skyrim sold lifetime across everything under the sun. It's absolutely insane.
 
Even though the massive sales ACNH did, I think the most impressive one considering the series it belongs is BotW
 
Voted Animal Crossing, but I had a hard time choosing. So many games have done much better than I thought they would.
 
Ring Fit for me. Most thought that genre was dead but I think Nintendo nailed the failures of these games in recent years - they were software not games.

A fitness game which gives you the feeling of accomplishment from the game alone is honestly genius.

I have to wonder if there are aspects of their quality of life ideas in there.

I think most people were a bit concerned when the Switch was announced and all these motion features were on show but Nintendo was thinking ahead. It's clear they wanted that market back.

The rest? They've sold spectacular because the switch does. Ring Fit is different imo.
 
No doubt all of these have been tremendous success stories, but for me it's a toss up between Breath of the Wild and Ring Fit Adventure. Botw absolutely smashed the ceiling on what a Zelda game could sell, but I voted for Ring Fit as I really didn't think there was much chance of Nintendo tapping into the more casual Wii Fit audience again.
 
It’s a really tough choice between 3. BOTW for its unbelievable legs and elevation of the series. Ring Fit for it being a out of no where IP. But at the end, it’s still Animal Crossing. It’s simply a force of nature that smashed sales records with pure speed and ferocity.
 
The Witcher getting over 1M is amazing. Considering it released so much later than the other versions.

I guess the Netflix show helped it(season 2 on Dec. 17th👀)
 
BOTW for a lot of reasons, but seeing it sell almost 5M in its 5th year is unbelievable for the franchise. I mean, that’s more than most Zelda’s LTD numbers.
 
HK-47 said:
Did we get an announcement for the Switch version?
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Not really, it is a calculated number from two different CD Project financial releases.
In April 2020 they published the yearly sales% of each platform but also provided a y-axis with the amount of copies so we just had to pixel count everything and got 700k for the Switch version
This year they published the same percentage graph but without the scale but we simply can extrapolate from last years scale and are now at around 1.4M for the Switcher.
 
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