The latest earnings release from Nintendo has some exceptional numbers attached. Total Switch sales have surpassed 32 million units as Super Smash Bros Ultimate sells over 12 million in less than one month. Other Nintendo first-party Switch titles got lifetime sales updates as well.
Nintendo released their third quarter and fiscal year-to-date earnings today. Total Switch sales reached 32.27 million by December 31, 2018, with 9.41 million from the previous three months alone. Nintendo had previously projected 20 million Switch sales in this fiscal year but recently altered that to 17 million.
Super Smash Bros Ultimate, which released on December 7, sold 12.08 million units in just 24 days. The fighting game quickly became the third best-selling Nintendo Switch game, trailing Super Mario Odyssey (13.76 million) and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (15.02 million).
Switch software sales have surpassed 163.61 million since the hybrid console released in March 2017. Of that, 52.51 million were sold in the three months leading up to December 31, 2018. Nintendo released a top 10 list of the best-selling first-part Switch titles as well.
- Mario Kart 8 Deluxe – 15.02 million
- Super Mario Odyssey – 13.76 million
- Super Smash Bros Ultimate – 12.08 million
- The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild – 11.68 million
- Pokemon: Let’s Go, Pikachu! / Eevee! – 10 million (combined)
- Splatoon 2 – 8.27 million
- Super Mario Party – 5.3 million
- 1-2 Switch – 2.86 million
- Mario Tennis Aces – 2.53 million
- Kirby: Star Allies – 2.42 million
Nintendo has also sold over one million Labo Variety Kits, 2.08 million copies of Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze, and 1.08 million copies of Octopath Traveler.
Nintendo launched the Switch in March 2017 alongside Breath of the Wild. Since then the console has sold exceptionally well, and many games sell best there. The console has yet to outsell Sony or Microsoft’s systems, but it has been outpacing them. Nintendo has another hit on their hands, supported by excellent first-party games.
Super Smash Bros Ultimate is one such game, surpassing sales of other games in the series by surprising amounts. Ultimate outsold Super Smash Bros Brawl by more than 70 percent in the same period after launch. Smash Ultimate became the fifth best-selling game of 2018 in the US having only been out for a month.