Updated with sales figures from Nintendo's full FY2024 financial report - enjoy!
At the time of writing, the Switch has the highest number of software sales of any Nintendo console, ever, with over one billion games sold on the platform since March 2017. What's more, its lead is so commanding that it will likely hold this pole position for a good few years to come (unless there is a sudden surge in sales for DS games around the corner that nobody saw coming).
Of all of the games available on the Switch, a select few have been able to make it into the elite club of surpassing one million units sold. This is a feat that has only been achieved by 71 first-party games as of March 2024, with titles ranging across the breadth of the Switch's lifespan.
With the release of the latest Nintendo financial report, we have collected together all of the Nintendo-published games (including ones that were only published by the Big N in certain regions — hi, Octopath Traveler!) to have reached the big 'one milly' — with many of them hitting multiple 'millys' [Stop saying 'milly' - Ed.] — and laid them out below in order of lifetime sales. We've also added our summary of each game to jog your memory if, you know, perhaps you need a reminder about what little-known curios like Mario Kart or Animal Crossing are about.
Many of the games' total lifetime sales figures have come from the latest financial report, though we have had to look to previous reports for some games that haven't sold as well in recent years. The data in the following list comes solely from Nintendo's official figures, so it's worth bearing in mind that while we have used the most recent data available to us, some of the following totals may differ slightly today.
This ranking is guaranteed to change somewhat with the next financial report, so we will be keeping the standings updated whenever we get another look at the official sales data.
Until then, you can find all of the first-party Switch games to have sold at least one million copies below...
1. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (Switch)
Lifetime sales (as of March 2024): 61.97 million
Mario Kart 8 delivered a huge amount of racing goodness right out of the box on Wii U and was only a proper Battle Mode away from being top of class. The big twist this time around was the introduction of 'anti-gravity' sections which allow tracks to bend and twist on themselves in surprising ways. This doesn't impact the gameplay all that much but during anti-grav sections it's possible to collide with other racers and gain a small speed boost, adding a welcome layer of tactical play. It's a game that continually raises a smile and, occasionally, induces that trademark Mario Kart rage as shells strike and positions are lost. It's addictive, unifying, unfiltered fun that draws in anyone daring enough to take up the wheel.
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe repackaged the original for the hybrid handheld for all of the millions of people who didn't play on Wii U and added in that excellent (and sorely missed) Battle Mode for good measure. This is the pinnacle of the entire series; a fast, attractive, sublimely playable romp which has to rank as one of the best racing games of all time. It's the definitive Mario Kart experience, content-rich and a delightful feast of comedic, cartoonish karting action. Essential.
And the addition of 48 more courses with the awkwardly named Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Booster Course Pass DLC? Well, that's just more icing on an already-grand cake, isn't it?
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2. Animal Crossing: New Horizons (Switch)
Lifetime sales (as of March 2024): 45.36 million
Animal Crossing: New Horizons takes the series and not only drags it back onto home consoles, but improves upon every single facet imaginable. There's more to do, more to see, more to change, more to mould, and more to love; fans and first-time players are going to find themselves losing hours at a time gathering materials, creating new furniture, and making their island undeniably theirs. Every moment is unashamedly blissful, with excellently-written characters that truly feel alive and an island paradise that gives back infinitely more than you put in. Back when Animal Crossing: New Leaf hit the shelves all those years ago and created a whole new generation of fans, many people were wondering how Nintendo could possibly top it, but here we have our answer. This is a masterpiece that it's worth buying a Switch (or two) to play.
3. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (Switch)
Lifetime sales (as of March 2024): 34.22 million
How does this 'ultimate' version of Smash stack up against the rest? Vocal concerns about past games were actively addressed. Every single fighter from the series is present (even Pichu) and joined by a colossal roster of DLC characters from the annals of gaming (let's not forget that this is the game responsible for bringing Banjo and Kazooie back home to a Nintendo console). The customisability is overwhelmingly vast, and it’s all topped off with super-solid single-player modes to boot.
We’re not sure how you could make a more robust or pleasing Smash game. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate truly is the ultimate instalment in the series, and it makes you wonder where Masahiro Sakurai can possibly take this franchise next.
4. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Switch)
Lifetime sales (as of March 2024): 31.85 million
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild was a landmark release, both for its franchise and Nintendo. It was the first time that Nintendo truly took on the open-world genre, and by arriving late to the party it embraced the strengths from top-of-the-class games while also forging its own unique identity. This game was a revolution for the series, but the Legend of Zelda essence is still there — its soul remains, and the end result is captivating. After years of following the same old template, Nintendo bravely took Zelda in a new direction, and delivered an absolute triumph which still has us regularly revisiting its iteration of Hyrule.
Breath of the Wild forged a new and exciting path ahead and we cannot wait to see where it takes the series.
5. Super Mario Odyssey (Switch)
Lifetime sales (as of March 2024): 27.96 million
There's an argument to be made that Mario 64 never got a 'true' sequel until this game: Sunshine's FLUDD muddied the waters with its feature set; the Galaxy games cleverly eschewed large open worlds for impeccably crafted planetoids designed around specific gameplay elements; 3D Land and 3D World were deliberately constrained with linear design to attract players of 2D Mario into the third dimension.
Super Mario Odyssey was a return for the 'sandbox' style of Mario adventure players had been pining for since 1996, and it delivers everything you could want and more. Cappy's capture abilities keep things fresh in a game which blends all sorts of ideas and art styles into an improbably coherent, compelling whole. It really shouldn't work, but New Donk City's human inhabitants are able to co-exist with the anthropomorphic cutlery of the Luncheon Kingdom and the big-eyed cute characters of the Mushroom Kingdom clan thanks solely to the developers' impeccable execution. The mechanical mastery on display here is breathtaking; there's a joyful abandon to the game which carries through every kingdom you visit, with so many distractions and things to discover. We don't envy the designers who have to come up with Mario's next game, but if Mario Odyssey's anything to go by, absolutely anything is possible.
An utterly remarkable entry in this most celebrated of series, then, and an essential purchase whether you like Mario or not.
6. Pokémon Sword and Shield (Switch)
Lifetime sales (as of March 2024): 26.27 million
Pokémon Sword and Shield succeed in bringing some new ideas to the table, although there are areas where it could be pushed further. What’s done right is done right, but there are also elements that feel like they've come from a decade-old design document. There are moments contained within that are the best the series has ever been, but this joy is occasionally spoiled by contrasting moments that left us disappointed. It's an experience full of highs and lows, from the unadulterated wonder and joy of seeing a brand-new Pokémon in a stadium full of cheering crowds, to the monotonous and dragged-out dialogue we just wanted to skip. The wonders of exploring the Wild Area feel like the true evolution of the series.
On the whole, Pokémon Sword and Shield were a very solid start to the HD generation of Pokémon games, although there's room for improvement.
7. Pokémon Scarlet and Violet (Switch)
Lifetime sales (as of March 2024): 24.92 million
There are still plenty more ways we’d like to see the Pokémon franchise evolve but despite some glaring technical hiccups, Pokémon Scarlet & Violet has us excited about the series' future. We really hope Game Freak can figure out how to smooth out the series’ ongoing performance issues on Switch because they’re going to become a serious detriment over time.
Scarlet & Violet is most fun and exciting when you're just exploring the world, and while there are many small new details and improvements to the Pokémon formula, it still plays it safe in a few areas. Regardless, things point toward a promising future for Gen 9 and beyond. It’s a smaller step than many may have hoped for, especially considering what Pokémon Legends: Arceus did, but it's definitely one in the right direction.
8. Super Mario Party (Switch)
Lifetime sales (as of March 2024): 20.66 million
Recent Mario Party games have had a somewhat sterile feel to them, but with Super Mario Party (the Switch's first Mario Party outing), that simply isn’t the case. This isn’t a cash grab with Mario's face on the front; this is a well-constructed and beautifully realised Mario Party game which takes the series right back to its roots, but without being a straightforward rehash.
There are a few interesting ideas that feel a little bit underdeveloped — such as the overhyped Challenge mode — but on the whole Super Mario Party is a true return to form after it felt like the series was sagging on the Wii, Wii U, and DS consoles.
9. The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (Switch)
Lifetime sales (as of March 2024): 20.61 million
It’s impossible to talk about everything that makes The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom so incredible, and making many of those discoveries yourselves is part of the magic. It’s also impossible to overstate just how much there is to do in Hyrule this time around. Much like its predecessor, this is your playground for the next however many years to come, with a little sprinkling of that older Zelda fairy dust mixed into Breath of the Wild’s formula. It’s a glorious, triumphant sequel to one of the best video games of all time; absolute unfiltered bliss to lose yourself in for hundreds of hours. We can’t wait to see what the world will do with the game.
10. New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe (Switch)
Lifetime sales (as of March 2024): 17.45 million
New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe is an impressive package, offering the best of modern-era 2D Mario, madcap multiplayer and glimpses of the outrageous invention that was to come in Super Mario Odyssey. It's a top-drawer Mario game and arguably the best of the 'New' branch whether you play on Wii U or Switch, although ageing visuals and the irritation of being kicked back to the world map after every death stand out as things that could have been finessed in this Deluxe version. Still, with New Super Luigi U included, this is a very fine 2D Mario (and Luigi) package.
11. Ring Fit Adventure (Switch)
Lifetime sales (as of March 2023): 15.38 million
If you're a gym addict you probably shouldn't throw out your membership card just yet, but for everyone else looking to get fitter, Ring Fit Adventure is a fantastic way to do it that won't bore you senseless. Play it properly and you'll definitely feel it the next morning – a sure sign that it's at least doing you some good – while the compelling adventure mode with its RPG elements will ensure that you'll keep coming back for more.
12. Pokémon: Let's Go, Pikachu! and Let's Go, Eevee! (Switch)
Lifetime sales (as of December 2022): 15.07 million
Pokémon: Let's Go, Pikachu! and Let's Go, Eevee! are beautiful reimaginings of a video game classic, updating a 20-year-old game in ways which make it infinitely more accessible and user-friendly for a modern audience, while keeping the magic first discovered all those years ago. On the downside, the motion control mechanic is fun but flawed, forcing you to shift from one play style to another to get the best experience. Still, the game does a superb job of striking a balance between being an easy route of entry for newcomers and offering just enough post-game challenge and competitive play elements (and nostalgia, of course) to please series veterans; as a result, these new titles really do offer something for everyone, which can't always be said of the mainline Pokémon entries. They might not be an absolute masterpiece, but we’d urge any Poké-fans out there to give these ones a go.
Comments 132
Just two games that Nintendo didn't got any development or publishment in...
You know what would have been cool? If you had put some actual research into finding out updated figures. All but the top 10 of these are YEARS old now and likely far far off. For example, Nintendo’s latest number for “Link’s Awakening” is from December 2021! And that’s the one you’re citing here.
Ring Fit Aventure being in the top 10 seller with no ties to any big nintendo franchise
@NintendoWife Do you read Nintendo's reports? They're very selective what data they share, so that's all NL have to go on. If it says Dec 2021, that was the last time Nintendo reported sales figures, which means it's very unlikely that there has been a significant change in sales.
Seriously, what happened to all the sales tracker services? It used to be such a big thing, back in the days of VGChartz (which was bit of a clown site of course, but there were actual companies tracking games sales too.) Now all we have is Nintendo’s financial reports, and they restrict info to the top10 usually.
@cmdrmarc No, that’s not what it means. This is a Zelda game that’s been on the market for 3 1/2 years, yet all we have is sales figures for the first 2 years. These games have legs, all the more with Switch’s gigantic install base. It was on sale too, at least once… I bet it is in the 9-10m region, not at 6m anymore. Which is kinda relevant when discussing the success of their various attempts at making (in this case) Zelda games.
All it really means is they stopped publishing updates, because (see previous posts) they only share the all-time Top10. Which is hardly changing anymore because yeah, how many new games are going to beat those numbers?
I'm very curious how Sparks of Hope sold. I know it was off to a slow start but it seems to have stuck around the charts for a while. Hopefully Ubisoft give an update on it at some stage.
Tbh I'd expect every Nintendo first party game to sell over 1 million.
@NintendoWife ok so where do you expect them to get the info if they only share Top 10 updates? Is it anywhere else?
@Il_Nintenditore agreed, I’m just glad to see all three Xenoblade games on this list. I wasn’t sure if Definitive Edition actually sold 1 million. The franchise has come a long way from its humble beginnings where it was considered so niche it almost never released in the US at all…
Excellent list of titles with a few good surprises. But with such a great selling system, I wish Nintendo hadn't been as conservative in bringing back classics that could have had a better chance with a bigger audience: Wave Race, 1080, Excite Truck, F-Zero, Rhythm Haven, Star Fox outside a comeo in Star Link, Kid Icarus, Sin & Punishment and even smaller titles such as Pushmo. I was positive we would see at least 2 or 3 with these, but it seems the chances are rather slim now.
@cmdrmarc There used to be retailer trackers, yes. There used to be “NPD” for US and Canada, “Famitsu” and “Media Create” for Japan, … 10 years ago people actually spent their time on VGChartz , anxiously awaiting and guessing weekly updates for individual titles. Then it just stopped. Even VGChartz (who were always accused of either stealing commercial services’ data or simply making it up) don’t update anymore.
Might be that with digital now being such a big part of sales, it became hopeless.
As for this site and list here: I think as a journalist, if you don’t have good info, you should either try and research it or not post it.
I had no idea Pokemon S/V had shipped that many copies in such a short time.
Some interesting figures on here. I do wonder what the true numbers are for some of the older entries, but perhaps we may get an update in the future.
I am keeping an eye on the sales of Engage against Three Houses as I am curious how it performs. I've still yet to pick up Engage myself.
I would like Metroid to keep improving especially the Prime remaster, but relative to other games on the list, I feel it hasn't done too badly. I just hope there is enough to convince Nintendo to keep making them.
Still don't like the concept of a Wii U port being the best-seller, with or without the expansion. I do wish the top 10 had a bit more variety but eh.
Shouldn’t Dragon Quest XI be on here?
I own almost all of these. I’ve beaten all of the ones I own too! I play a lot of games. 😅
Also, jeez, even though Odyssey sold boatloads of copies, I feel like more people still need to buy it! That’s too low in the rankings!
Gotta wonder if Tears of the Kingdom will match the success of Breath of the Wild. It always redeems my faith in our species a little bit when I realize just how many people buy Zelda games.
@Munchlax Dragon Quest XI is not a first-party Nintendo game.
@NintendoWife But the article is games that passed 1m sales - these all have, and they've included when they last had an update, so as you admit if they can't get more info surely they've done all they can and reported it accurately?
@cmdrmarc I knew you were going to say that But integral part of saying the truth is saying the whole truth. If some of your data is brand new and some is wildly outdated (they are using it to make a ranking after all which is likely rubbish), you should note that.
I’m aware I’m sounding like I’m taking this way too seriously btw. But I felt like it was worth pointing out, at least once.
@cmdrmarc Also: This is quite a big gaming website now - look at the amount of comments - , so I don’t think it’s wrong to expect better journalism. It’s not like there are no better ways of researching than simply compiling what’s already out there for everyone. Back when IGN was big they used to have good contacts at Nintendo and even asked them some questions sometimes.
@reporterdavid Ah yes those rabids.
@JimNorman Pokémon Let's Go is at 15.07 million, not 14.92 million and Kirby Star Allies is at 3.98 million. Great work otherwise.
@Polvasti It’s published by Nintendo in some regions. If you set your library to sort by publisher, it appears under Nintendo. If Octopath counts, so does Dragon Quest.
Cruisn´Blast FLOP
Advance Wars 1 + 2 FLOP
Warioware Get it Together deserve way more!!!
Some games in this list are not exclusives...because we can play them on Steam, for example.
@reporterdavid Amazing for Nintendo. Not so great news for all the third party developers out there I'd say.
@Paulo absolutely... I still go back and play Wave Race, Pilotwings, F-Zero and Starfox (all N64 versions). Those games were so innovative and fresh, and there's not much like them on any modern console. I feel like a refresh of any of those titles would do relatively well.
crazy to see Luigis Mansion 3 almost at 13 million hopefully Luigis Mansion 4 is in development right now
I also would like to see the sources for these numbers
@NintendoWife
Who cares, they're all over a million we know that for sure.
How does a Nintendo website not understand that Pokemon and Kirby AREN'T FIRST PARTY titles by Nintendo? They are SECOND PARTY releases made by Game Freak and HAL, respectively. You can even look in your own information for the answer to the solution. You literally have Bayonetta 2 on here which was made by Platinum. What are you even thinking putting out such a misleading and inaccurate article? Yikes. I counted over 30 GAMES that SHOULDN'T be on this list because you guys don't know what a first party game is.
@rpawlos15133 yep, good thing you mentioned Pilotwings, totally deserving of a new title.
@Rainbowfire Feel free to not care! I did. It’s a sloppy list, exists only for the affiliate links anyway, and knowing that no one puts any effort into these is offputting - to me.
@Tober you are right...
Astral Chain outselling Bayonetta is kinda surprising. Not upsetting or anything, just surprising.
Also, glad to see ARMS seems to keep slowly moving up. If they had cut the price to $30 when Min Min joined Smash, I bet it would have broken 3 million.
@Rykdrew Did Nintendo publish Cruiz'n Blast? I thought they allowed Raw Thrills to self publish it or something.
Either way, it did not sell a million.
Splatoon 3 at 10.67 million and its first year isn’t even over yet, that’s really impressive! Only 3 million to go to pass Splatoon 2, we can probably expect that by the end of this fiscal year, after the expansion.
@Deviant-Dork The article quite clearly states in the introduction that what they mean by "first-party" are games published by Nintendo. Some of the games on the list may have been developed by other studios, some of which are partially or wholly owned by Nintendo, but they were all published by Nintendo, hence they are first-party.
@Munchlax Ah, okay, I didn't know that, I thought it was published by Square Enix everywhere.
I know that traditionally a Million Seller is a big deal… but with production values and marketing budgets these days, would Nintendo consider a first-party game selling a million actually a financial success? I don’t know if there’s a way to answer that question without having inside info from the Big N, but I’m still curious…
It would be easier to count the Nintendo retail published games that are not in the million club:
-Snipperclips
-Advance Wars (too early to say for sure I suppose)
-Fire Emblem Warriors
-Tokyo Mirage Sessions
-Hyrule Warriors
-That DC supergirls game.
-Dragon Quest XI
-Dragon Quest Builders 1 and 2.
-Sushi Striker
-Labo Robot, Vehicle and VR.
-Daemon X Machina
-Mario Rabidds Spark of Hope
-Go Vacation
-Bravely Default 2
Of course, some of this games, most notably perhaps DQ sold more than a million when you combine all the versions and all the regions...but Nintendo in the info that they share only counts the sales on the region they are publishing the game, so DQ XI for example on the Switch was unable to reach the big number outside of Japan. Same thing with games like Machina or Go Vacation, the sales numbers of Japan and the rest of the world are not combined in the reports...not that I think those two would reach the million even then, unfortunately.
The same deal explains SMT V position on the list. The game sold worldwide more than a million a long time ago...but Nintendo published the game only in PAL regions and in that market it just barely reached the million copies
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@Yomerodes most of those aren't First Party titles.
"we have collected together all of the Nintendo-published games (...) to have reached the big 'one milly' "
So, it's not a list of first party games then? I've never heard anyone call Octopath Traveler a first party game.
Or do people consider that first party? I'm honestly not sure now.
Nintendo Selects when?
Mother 3 Switch Version - 7 copies sold on launch
I remember asserting on a post from NL's FB page about the XC3 collector's edition that the game probably won't hit 5 million lifetime so complaints about handling will largely go unnoticed and the press/internet forum users were making a mountain out of a molehill. Someone responded with the assertion that XC2 had already passed 6 million (that person was misreading the series lifetime sales) and thusly XC3 was all but guaranteed to surpass 5 million. The sales data Nintendo provided discredits that ridiculous assertion, but since the source of that was FB, I don't see anyone conceding that point.
Oh well. Score one for me and another L for the haters.
@Deviant-Dork
I never said they were first party. They are "games published by Nintendo", that is, in one or more regions. I was surprised with a few of them to be honest.
@Yomerodes good for you, the article is about first party titles, or is supposed to be.
Very Happy for Donkey Kong Tropical Freeze(Nr.26, 4 million), wish for DK Country Returns on the switch with 3DS controls. I can’t for the new entry in Donkey Kong franchise
@Deviant-Dork
Oh, so your issue is about remaining on point then. If the article is about million sellers we also shouldn't go around mentioning any game that is not a million seller?
@Rykdrew I wouldn't doubt that Advance Wars doesn't reach a million as it's never been a huge seller(highest sales in the series was around 700k I believe), but are sales figures even out for it yet?
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@steely_pete No. Octopath is not first party. First party indicates the IP is owned or partially owned by Nintendo. So games like Bayonetta 3 are first party
@ComfyAko
I am all 7 of them.
I love how everyone's arguing over what a first party game is when most of Nintendo's games could be called second party anyways. No one ever called rare games first party. Also poor Warioware, from a gameplay standpoint it's become my second favorite in the series.
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@WaffleBoat Believe me or not but I wanted to type 7 bilions but I edited something and forgot to put the word back on (I was in a hurry)
So yeah, the rest would be me lol
Go Vacation is not a million seller? I'm a little surprised it isn't.
That game is in a weird spot when it comes to being a Nintendo game. It was originally a Wii game released in 2011 around the same time as Kirby's Return to Dream Land made by Bandai Namco. Nintendo had no involvement with the Wii version.
The Switch version, which came out 7 years later, has Nintendo listed on the copyright. I'm guessing they did some work on the port, enough to have partial ownership of it.
@Yomerodes I think you missed some eshop only titles like Stretchers, some Kirby games, Good Job.
So basically half of that just over a billion number from earlier. Guessing Monster Hunter would be the biggest third party title?
ARMS needs more love from gamers.
would be better to make a list of first party Nintendo games that didn't sell over a million
@steely_pete
I can understand being confused. The thing is, the whole "party" system is about developers...and in this page we are talking about distribution.
As far as developing goes, a game can be first party (made by an internal studio of the console maker) second party (made by an external and exclusive studio to the console maker) or third party (made by an external and non exclusive studio to the console maker).
As far as distribution goes, you only have two groups. 1) Games published by the console maker, 2) Games published by any other company. And sometimes, as we see in this article, the two groups are called first and third party respectively for simplicity sake, further increasing confusion. It is in this part were things get a little messy because the very same game can have many different publishers depending on the region or even the console and year of release, while the developers of course remain the same as long as the game itself is the same.
The fact that BotW is the best-selling Zelda game by over 20 million copies is what I point to whenever people complain about the current direction of the series.
In what world is Shin Megami Tensei V a Nintendo first party title?
Does this mark the first time a Zelda game has outsold a Mario game on any Nintendo consoles?
@masterLEON Yes impressive for sure! I was just about to say the same thing. It always makes me happy to see Splatoon doing well because I love it and it just means that Ninty will keep supporting it. Even in the Wii U days it sold a lot on that system for its user base.
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🥺
It hurts my soul to se Metroid so low on this list, i did even buy Dread 3 times (one copy Digital, one fisical and the especial edition that i happen to find with 30% off)
@Maulbert I love Breath of the Wild. My favorite Zelda game and definitely the direction I personally want to see the series keep going... But I can't help but get frustrated when I see this idea that good sales have any weight at all against someone's personal opinion on something.
An individual's opinion isn't invalidated by good sales. Where did this notion even come from? Nintendo cares about sales because they're a corporation, but we are not them, we are customers. We come to Nintendo for entertainment. Sales are not part of opinions over enjoyment of a game.
As I said, I love BOTW. I'm really happy to see it sell well. But I wish people would stop using this argument that someone's opinion is overriden by sales. Like, yes, the corporation cares about sales, but that doesn't change our opinion over whether or not something is entertaining or not.
I wonder what the minimum threshold for a game to count as successful is?
I mean, it’s strange to see games sell “only” one million copies, but, one million, that’s like, a lot!
So I wonder, what level of sales does Nintendo view as being successful? What about third party sales? How many sales do they consider successful, almost none of them cracked this list, but they keep supporting the system, so presumably it’s worth their while…
And there are six pages of million-copy sellers!!! That's just awesome!
For a moment I considered criticizing the fact that Pokemon Scarlet and Violet was so high on the list but then I remembered I got a copy myself, so I'm also to blame for helping them get such a huge number of copies sold of a game that was released in a terrible state
Makes you realize there really are the have's & have-not's when it comes to massive game sales with certain franchises/games.
Also keeps in perspective how few games (especially non-Nintendo games) ever even break a million sales despite the console's high and ever-growing console sales.
As a sidebar: It would be interesting to somehow know development & marketing costs for games and then necessary sales to break-even and then also how many are needed to make a "decent" profit margin for every game if at all possible. Or even just a Net Profit/Loss based on lifetime sales of games- similar to how the movie industry is widely evaluated and most sales & costs are often public knowledge.
This is would provide a better gauge as to how much a game is considered a "success" business-wise moreso than just raw sales data.
@Alpha008 I know Fire Emblem Awakening needed to sell at least 1 million units or Nintendo would've ended the series, according to Intelligent Systems. It was the best-selling game in the series at the time with 2.4 million sold.
Could we get a list of first party Switch games which sold less than a million? It might be a shorter list.
@Alpha008 It depends on the game, how many resources it required, and what the expectations are, etc. In general, companies want to make a profit, but they also have to consider other factors like opportunity cost. In Nintendo's case they also have to consider impact on system sales. Even though Bayonetta might not sell a huge number of copies, it probably contributes to system sales because it has a strong core fanbase
Of course if TOTK only sold one million that would be a huge failure. For Bayonetta 3 though 1 million is probably success. If you are an indy developer, 10000 sales might be a success
Weird that Prime remastered sold so little, it sort of took over my youtube recommendations for a while, seemed pretty hyped up.
@Harmonie You can enjoy or hate a game regardless of sales. Pokémon S/V is a prime example of how a lot of people [here anyway] voiced their hate about the current state of the game, but the fact is what you need to understand: You are in the minority in the end.
That is what matters in the end for series perception of successful experiment or failure. I don’t think anyone can legitimately argue that BoTW wasn’t a grand success. Were there haters especially from the OoT hardcores? Definitely. But they were in the minority. Sales is just another way to say “more people saw the game worth spending their money on”.
Sales isn’t the all be all, but so isn’t reviews. End of the day it’s your own opinion that determines if you buy a game or not. Just acknowledge BoTW [and very likely Tears] DOES appeal to way more gamers then any Zelda game before.
@Aerona It’s not a new game at end of day and Metroid was never a huge IP. Dread was a new game and considered a grand success for its IP, but sales wise it was always 3rd string in the Nintendo library. Japan not being a huge fan of Metroid doesn’t help either.
@_fatto_katto_ It's part of a huge franchise, it's a Fit game, like Wii Fit, Wii Fit Plus, and Wii Fit U. It plays a little different, but it's clearly part of the same franchise. I'd almost call it a spinoff, but since they're unlikely to put out another balance board, I think it can be safe to assume that the series will always have to change to adapt to newer consoles with newer peripherals rather than being the same formula each time.
@Rykdrew Advance Wars just got released weeks ago, and the sales report only goes to the end of March. You can't declare it a flop right now.
@NintendoWife completely agree, seems a lazy story. Also would have been nicer just as an updated table. We are all nintendo fans here so don't need a reminder about the game.
In the 90s we call these kind of games, the Player's Choice lineup and when a game is in the Player's Choice lineup they usually get sell with a cheaper price compare to what they were priced at when launch so if a game is $59.99 at launch, it usually will cost $29.99 via Player's Choice if that made it to the million unit sold.
@Arawn93 But I think this misunderstands the fact that when someone states an opinion they aren't saying "this product isn't successful because I don't like it". The metrics of someone's opinion and the financial success and/or popularity of a game are two completely different metrics. And that's my point here. The success/popularity of the game is irrelevant to an individual's opinion.
I think practically everyone knows that the game is successful. It's just pointing out the obvious and acting like it matters when it doesn't.
The time to argue a game is financially successful is when someone is arguing that the game wasn't successful. When discussing someone's opinion over a game, it has nothing to do with anything at all.
that is a lot of Pokemon sold considering the whinging that went on about all of them
Removed - unconstructive feedback
66 Nintendo published titles for just one platform is really impressive (making a list of Nintendo published titles that didn't make It would have been much less demanding). Having said that, it's just too bad that Nintendo didn't release titles that didn't perform as well in the past, because with Switch's huge install base, they could have been franchise's best selling titles (Wave Race, 1080, Star Fox Zero, Pilotwings, Excite Truck, F-Zero, Kid Icarus)
The way people bang on about Splatoon being a major franchise, you'd expect them to be up much higher on this list.
Pretty sure SMT V wasn't published by Nintendo.
Can we have a list of first party Nintendo Switch titles that didn't sell over a million?
@Ralizah I think it was in Europe
So is this only a list of Nintendo published/ IP million sellers, or is it all. SMT V wasnt published by Nintendo.
@lacaras4 Ah. Makes sense, since Atlus doesn't have a strong publishing arm there.
More people need to pick up Xenoblade Chronicles 3, that game was stellar. Best in the series. (Shout out to Astral Chain as well)
Some of these sales figures have not been updated since 2021? Nintendo don’t release digital sales figures so what are they hiding? The first thing that comes to my mind is questions around tax but as I have no idea I’d love to know what everyone else thinks is the reason Nintendo don’t report digital sales. Also why isn’t this discussed?
Surprised to see Dr. Kawashima's Brain Training for Nintendo Switch being a million seller, considering the game didn't come out in America, or at least not yet, meaning we didn't get/haven't gotten the official Switch stylus either.
I'm glad games like Miitopia and Big Brain Academy: Brain vs. Brain are million sellers. Now, if only I could find a copy of Clubhouse Games: 51 Worldwide Classics.
XB2 still best selling Xenoblade even without sale figures not being updated in over 2 years
@illmatic20xx
Nintendo is the publisher of SMT V in Europe
@Ralizah
Apart from Nintendo, Sega could have been the publisher of SMT V in Europe without any problems
What a library. Easily the best system ever made.
@lacaras4
Not counting digital sales:
-Hyrule Warriors Definitive Edition
-Advance Wars
-Tokyo Mirage Sessions
-Sushi Striker
-Labo Robot Kit
-Labo Vehicle Kit
-Labo VR Kit
-Daemon x Machina
-Snipperclips
-Everybody 1-2 Switch
Should be able to add Pikmin 4 to that list too!
Numbers sold doesn’t mean quality! If Cola sells billions of drinks, does it mean it’s a great product? I would cross out the Pokémon abominations from the list because they sell just because they market it toward little kids. Most long time fans have given up on these games long ago. Low quality, games made by greedy untalented and lazy people who abuse marketing toward children! Peak example of disgusting business tactics that should be illegal.
@lacaras4
Here is a full list of first party games that did not sell over a million:
@reporterdavid
Come on man.
The tagline is "Every first-party game that has sold over one million copies." If Nintendo didn't publish it it isn't here(and also if they only publish a game in some regions rather then worldwide we likely won't get updates from Nintendo as they don't have all the sales captured and they rarely publish massive games for third parties anymore) For example triangle stratgey was self published by SE in Japan but published by Nintendo in America and Europe.)
Plenty of third party IP that are million sellers.
Monster Hunter Rise. Over 8 million
Suika Game: 3 Million
Dragon Ball FighterZ - 2.43M
Witcher 3: 1.8 Million
Resident Evil Reveleations collection 1.4m
Etc.
Mamy others we have partial data or no specific numbers but we know they have/have to had sold over a million. Games like
Stardew Valley
Minecraft(over 5 million just from Japan, Spain and French retail sales alone)
Dragon Quest XI: S
Monster Hunter Rise Sunbreak
Crash Bandicoot N'Sane Trilogy
Etc.
I compiled a list a few weeks ago(some games have had updated numbers since mostly Nintendo first party games)
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards/189706-nintendo-switch/80601091
For the record Nintendo normally publishes sales of the top 10 all time Nintendo Published sellers per system + whatever Nintendo published that has sold over a million during the fiscal year. Otherwise we wait for CESA numbers once a year(usually in the summer) that cover up till the end of the prior year and covers games that sold over a million on a platform Life to date.
@sanderev
Everybody 1-2 Switch
Advance Wars Reboot Camp
Pikmin 1+2
Sushi Strikers
Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE Encore
All Labo Kits except the Variety pack
The first 3 might make it by the end of the FY with Pikmim being most likely and 1-2 Switch being least likely.
Plus a few third party games games they published but not worldwide didn't make it either.
1 2 Switch sold more than Metroid?
This is it, there is no god...
@JimNorman Your list is great, but some of the games have gotten updates as of December 31st 2022 since then that you haven't updated yet.
This wikipedia article has all the most up to date officially published numbers:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_best-selling_Nintendo_Switch_video_games
Pikmin 4 may not be one of the most sold Switch games, but it definitely was probably the most surprising for how well it did.
I wonder how many Mario Wonder will sell.
Poor Mario Maker 2 not quite in the top 20.
@EriXz 1-2 Switch came out when there were practically no Switch games to choose from. A fairer comparison is that the sequel to 1-2 Switch didn't even make this list.
Pokemon is NOT a first party release. This list is still COMPLETELY inaccurate and misleading.
Amazing list!! One Switch to Rule Them All!!
@Deviant-Dork Nintendo published
look at all that mediocrity near the top
We have the best selling Metroid game of all time on the Switch. That's wonderful!!!!
Unfortunately we won't have the best selling Super Mario game because the 40 million mark reached by the first NES SM game is unreachable imo
@John_Deacon
I mean, the original Super Mario Bros was a pack-in with Duck-Hunt. Of course that is going to be annoying to topple.
As for Metroid, while Dread is the best-selling game, its only about 200k copies above Metroid Prime on the Gamecube. And the Gamecube as we know it, only sold 22 million units. Switch is 133-135 million units. An increase of 230k is a bit low. And this was worse before Mercury Steam spoke up. Before then, Dread only lead by 60k over Prime and was under 3 million copies sold.
Metroid Dread needs to sell more! What a fantastic game, this and Prime Remastered should be in everyone's libraries.
Also Pikmin 4 guys, go get it if you're up for a treat. Same with Kirby & the Forgotten Lands, Zelda Link's Awakening and Super Mario 3D World. Not enough people know how good these games are.
It's amazing how Metroid both dread and Prime, Baynotta, astral chain , Mario Rpg , Shin megami tensi , xenolade and pikmin entries are all beaten by likes of switch sports, clubhouse games and ew 1 2 switch
I’m pleased that Mario RPG sold over 3 million copies. Of course, it’s already sold more than the original. Nintendo claimed it did that in only six weeks! I hope this and the upcoming Paper Mario remake finally convince Nintendo to return to proper Mario RPGs for good.
Man, Animal Crossing at number 2… pretty good for a series that was once considered niche.
The pandemic did wonders for the Switch itself as well as that IP.
I wonder if there is a possibility we’ll see an Animal Crossing as a launch title for the next Switch.
Ring Fit feels like a missed opportunity. How has there not been a sequel or other follow up for a periphery that sold 15 millions copies? And the fact that there has not been even one indie game to use it makes me feel like Nintendo won’t allow anyone else to develop for the ring.
You keep postning this for every quarter but some of the numbers arent updated.
Tropical freeze ia listed as 4.12 million as of dec 2021 but the lastest figure is from Dec 2022 with 4.62 million sold.
Is Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope not a million seller? I know that should be reported by Ubisoft and at most we'd get the Japanese sales numbers directly from Nintendo as they published that version, but I'm sure they should know how much it has sold.
EDIT: Apparently it's close to 3 million units sold.
I only have 31 out of 69. Clearly my collection needs to grow even more. 😝 I have a bunch more of them on my wishlist; if only Nintendo games ever went on a good sale.
@HammerGalladeBro If they had added sparks of hope to the list, it wouldn't be a nice round 69 long. 🧐
But yeah, clearly the list isn't 100% accurate.
I would also actually like to know which non-first party games (if any) hit a million or more. Is there any way to find that out?
And here i am, buying every single Mario Kart title since i have memory.
@JimNorman Once again I want to tell you that a large number of the games on this list is not fully up to date and Bayonetta 1 is missing from the list. It is published by Nintendo.
All the newly updated numbers are not as of May but as of March 31st. The update is from the fiscal report. Their quarter didn't just end today. You need to at least take a look at their IR site or report. https://www.nintendo.co.jp/ir/en/finance/software/index.html
Companies never end their quarter on a random day in the middle of May, in the middle of any month for that matter.
Pikmin 4 was also updated by Nintendo today (as of March) and regardless that 3.33 million number was as of December, not September.
Almost all other sales numbers on this list are outdated. I've given you a link to Wikipedia, the sources are all there. I don't understand why you refuse to update the list properly.
I want to look into Pokemon Mystery Dungeon and Miitopia
@BTB20 I have told them that a number of times, but nothing changes.
Two things:
1. I still consider 1 2 Switch to be the absolute worst 1st/2nd party title on the Switch. Don't debate me. You know it's true.
2. Kirbys Return to Dreamland Deluxe should be a lot higher. I even consider it better than Forgotten Land by a hair.
Surprised to see ring fit so high on the list. Must be fun!
Its just plain fact. Nintendo makes the best games ever.
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