Mario Kart 8 Deluxe sells twice as often as Wii U

Earlier this morning, Nintendo released new sales figures that gave us an idea about the global demand for the Nintendo Switch. Of course, the company focuses primarily on its own products in their latest analysis, but their titles regularly top the sales charts anyway. In the last quarter (July to September) almost 50 million games (n=49.81 million) were purchased for the Nintendo Switch, the hardware itself went 6.86 million times over virtual and physical counters.

Animal Crossing: New Horizons continues to sell very well, but the title couldn't keep up its initial pace for obvious reasons. Super Mario 3D All-Stars, which sold 3.5 million copies in the first four weeks after its release, stands out positively too. The title is only expected to be available for sale until March 31, 2021, due to Nintendo who is limiting the availability for some reason. The high demand seems to prove the Japanese right, however you think about this policy. Before we head deep down into the following data, please note that the assessment period ended on September 30, 2020.

The ten best-selling Switch games with current distribution data:

1. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (2017) - 28.99 million sales


2. Animal Crossing: New Horizons (2020) - 26.04 million sales


3. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (2018) - 21.10 million sales


4. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (2017) - 19.74 million sales


5. Pokémon Sword/Shield (2019) - 19.02 million sales


6. Super Mario Odyssey (2017) - 18.99 million sales


7. Pokémon: Let's Go Pikachu! / Let's Go, Eevee! (2018) - 12.49 million sales


8. Super Mario Party (2018) - 12.10 million sales


9. Splatoon 2 (2017) - 11.27 million sales


10. New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe (2019) - 8.32 million sales

Figures from more recent first-party Nintendo Switch software:

• Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition - 1.4 million sales
• 51 Worldwide Games - 1.81 million sales
• Paper Mario: The Origami King - 2.82 million sales
• Super Mario 3D All-Stars - 5.21 million sales

A total of 68.3 million Switch consoles have been sold since market launch, the hardware will enter its fourth year in March 2021. By then, the Switch could very well outsell the Nintendo 3DS, which launched back in 2011. Other distribution data for comparison: The Wii U is standing at 13.56 million units, the Nintendo Wii tops Nintendo's home consoles with 101.63 million units.

Source: Nintendo (1), (2).