Animal Crossing Creeping Up on Mario Kart 8 Deluxe As Best Selling Switch Exclusive
Nintendo started off the year slow with little known releases slated for 2020. Despite the slow start and complications as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, Nintendo is ending the year with a number of new major releases and some incredible sales statistics.
As of September 30th, the Nintendo Switch has outsold the company’s first console, the NES. Amassing a total of 68 million sales–with just 10 million of those being from the handheld only Switch Lite model, the Nintendo Switch takes the second place slot for the company’s best selling console of all time behind the Wii.
The Switch surpassed the NES by about 8 million units sold. Having just been on the market for a little over 3 years, it is possible that the Switch could pass the Wii in lifetime sales. The console has yet to receive some sort of improved console model, though it has been heavily rumored over the past couple of months. The release of a new model could be the catalyst Nintendo needs to get the numbers up. There are still about 33 million sales between the Switch and the Wii, so the handheld/console hybrid still has a fair way to go before taking the number one slot.
As far as software sales goes, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe remains the best selling Switch exclusive game with 28.99 million units sold. Animal Crossing: New Horizons is rapidly catching up, just 9 months after the game’s release it stands as the second best selling exclusive with a total of 26.04 million units sold and will likely pass Mario Kart 8 Deluxe in the near future.
Super Smash Bros: Ultimate passes the 20 million mark, with The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Pokémon Sword and Shield, and Super Mario Odyssey just below at 19+ million units sold. The late year announcement Super Mario 3D All Stars sold 5.21 million units in the first 12 days. Despite the struggles 2020 has brought, Nintendo has had a great year and is looking good, even with Microsoft and Sony releasing their next gen consoles in just a few short days.