Sales Data Updated sales numbers for Switch titles: Super Mario Bros. Wonder (11.96M), Super Mario RPG (3.14M), and more

[SRB2KaiZ]

Mario RPG did way better than I expected. Honestly thought it would hit 1.5-2m, i wonder what sell through is vs shipped. Hope it persuades Ninty to do a sequel, and let the Paper Mario team try something new (Zelda/Splatoon RPG?)

Wonder did great, saw so many expecting it to hit 15m on installbase but they expected wayyyy more from the Mario movie hype. Especially since that hype died down from April, and was prob more effect for Mario game sales then.
Also, it's still "just" a 2D Mario game- those tend to veer more towards the casual side than the hardcore like 3D Marios, so it'll sell more through time rather than being frontloaded like TOTK.

Pikmin 4 is solid, hope Ninty is happy with the sales. I don't think the series will ever be a super hit like Zelda/Mario, the strategy gameplay style will always keep it at Kirby/Metroid caliber imo. I just hope they don't wash down the mechanics/simplify it further for future games or else it'll lose its identity. P4, mainly the beginning of the game, came bit too close to over explaining and dumbing down for me.

Would love DLC for Pikmin 4 and Wonder for next direct. Or something like what Sony does with Mile Morales/Lost Legacy - a "half-sequel" expansion game using assets from the first

Kirby and the Forgotten land sold 7 million copies that's more then the entire metroid prime trilogy.. so they are not in the same caliber.

anyways.. 3 million is fantastic for pikmin i could realistically see it selling over 4 or 5 million copies by the end of switch's life cycle

 

[Ricimer]

Once they realize the secret to success is to use Mario, that's really gonna tip the industry on its head. Can't believe it hasn't dawned on them yet.

Nurturing quality IPs that don't necessarily take AAA resources to create is the way to go.

If Ubisoft has managed Prince of Persia better the Lost Crown probably would have been an easy multi-million seller for example

 

[Leviraps]

Gotta be honest, TotK sales falling off this hard makes me sad

It’ll have legs in the years to come if BOTW is anything to go off of

 

[E.Gadd]

Luigi's Mansion 3 ending up ahead of Splatoon 2 by the end of this gen was not on my bingo card lol

So when does that series get a dedicated section on your website, huh Nintendo?

 

[ILikeFeet]

Nurturing quality IPs that don't necessarily take AAA resources to create is the way to go.

If Ubisoft has managed Prince of Persia better the Lost Crown probably would have been an easy multi-million seller for example

Unfortunately we have to pray they continue after lost crown. I hope it made its money back at least

 

[ziggyrivers]

Makes you wonder how much of a sales beast a mainline Pokémon game without negative WOM in internet bubbles would do, but that’d be an impossibility

 

[Ricimer]

Makes you wonder how much of a sales beast a mainline Pokémon game without negative WOM in internet bubbles would do, but that’d be an impossibility

I think Palworld shows there's a huge appetite for a Pokemon game that doesn't look like ass.

 

[Deleted member 645]

LM3 and Pikmin 4

 

[Lugia667]

oh lord



how is 20 million dissapointing?

 

[Bowser Sr.]

There is absolutely no way that Nintendo expected 'iterative sequel made from the bones of a previous genre-defining game' to sell as well as the original.

 

[ziggyrivers]

Has there ever been a video game sequel that has sold more than its predecesor?

 

[Metroid]

Has there ever been a video game sequel that has sold more than its predecesor?

Street Fighter 2 probably

 

[Djehuty]

FWIW, S/V’s sales curve has stronger legs so far than most other Pokemon games - I’m not so sure the WOM is that bad outside of certain internet bubbles tbh


Unrelated:

So it seems that Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury is now the second-best selling 3D Mario game of all time.

Outside of internet bubbles all I’ve heard is praise and more people getting into Pokémon than ever. That’s still anecdotal but Pokémon is a very healthy series now with many avenues for new fans, even comp is doing more now.

 

[Noleth]

Pikmin's officially a 3+ million seller. Maybe we won't be waiting a decade for Pikmin 5

I remain in pain as Xenoblade is now officially the worst selling Nintendo franchise by a large margin (Of franchises still getting games)

 

[acezam]

Thanks to @pierre485

• Super Mario Bros. Wonder

• Super Mario RPG

• Mario Kart 8 Deluxe

• Pikmin 4

• The Legend of Zelda: tears of the Kingdom

• Pokémon Scalet/Violet

• Animal Crossing: New Horizons

• Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

• The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

• Super Mario Odyssey

...

 

[acezam]

• Pokémon Sword & Shield

• Super Mario Party

• New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe

• Mario Party Superstars

• Nintendo Switch Sports

• Splatoon 3

• Luigi's Mansion 3

• ..

 

[boodream]

I still have questions of SE coming back for sequel. Nintendo can just go directly to ArtePiazza and make a(nother) spirtual sequel

I supposed that ArtePiazza was a subsidiary of SE, but I may be mistaken.

 

[NBOctoling]

Has there ever been a video game sequel that has sold more than its predecesor?

There definitely are a few. Mega Man 2, Splatoon 2, etc.

Though usually, it's because the first game is recognized as good but doesn't catch on right away. That is certainly not the case for BOTW.

 

[OctoSplattack]

I remain in pain as Xenoblade is now officially the worst selling Nintendo franchise by a large margin (Of franchises still getting games)

...So does this mean we can stop making fun of Metroid in sales threads now?

 

[Noleth]

...So does this mean we can stop making fun of Metroid in sales threads now?

Yes. Xenoblade is unfortunately now the new target for making fun of low sales.

 

[MeatheadSamus]

I love that Nintendo gamers are still not flying towards digital. Our only saving grace so far is Nintendo being so old-fashioned and afraid of all-digital.

 

[totofogo]

 

[Evil Lucario]

I remain in pain as Xenoblade is now officially the worst selling Nintendo franchise by a large margin (Of franchises still getting games)

Nope. WarioWare is right there.

 

[Noleth]

Nope. WarioWare is right there.

Warioware also probably costs infinitely less to make.

 

[NBOctoling]

...So does this mean we can stop making fun of Metroid in sales threads now?

Yes. Xenoblade is unfortunately now the new target for making fun of low sales.

Don’t worry, it will be the equivalent of this:

 

[Lugia667]

Has there ever been a video game sequel that has sold more than its predecesor?

splatoon 2

 

[Evil Lucario]

Warioware also probably costs infinitely less to make.

I'll say that Xenoblade has more avenues for revenue like amiibo, artbooks, scale figures, etc, not to mention I recall Takahashi saying that Xenoblade doesn't actually have THAT high of a budget.

 

[grobla123]

Monolith might be wise to make a series with a new title even if its a follow up to Xeno stuff with a new marketing angle. Just to see how it goes.

 

[NBOctoling]

Real Talk, given that Monolith also apparently does support stuff for many of Nintendo's big properties IN ADDITION TO cranking out games at a timely rate, I'm pretty sure Nintendo is more than happy to let them do whatever they want since it seems its paying off for them even if its not directly from their own series' sales.

 

[Noleth]

Monolith might be wise to make a series with a new title even if its a follow up to Xeno stuff with a new marketing angle. Just to see how it goes.

Probably, Xenoblade’s reputation is beyond repair at this point. (But Nintendo fans are likely to still hate anything Monolith makes for being anime and not Star Fox or F-Zero)

 

[SpaceGodzilla]

Probably, Xenoblade’s reputation is beyond repair at this point. (But Nintendo fans are likely to still hate anything Monolith makes for being anime and not Star Fox or F-Zero)

i mean this is the nicest way possible, who gives a shit? If Monlith and Nintendo are happy with Xenoblade's numbers and they continue to make games in the franchise then who cares if it's not doing #AAAGaming numbers?

 

[totofogo]

Well well well

Looks like wonder was a pretty big game

 

[Jbone916]

Probably, Xenoblade’s reputation is beyond repair at this point. (But Nintendo fans are likely to still hate anything Monolith makes for being anime and not Star Fox or F-Zero)

I think you’re over generalizing “Nintendo fans” here. I would wager many Nintendo fans have at least some interest in buying a game like Xenoblade but are pushed away for one reason or another (combat complexity, character design (particularly in XC2), etc). I think that the franchise has the potential for further growth on Nintendo consoles with some relatively small changes to make it more newcomer friendly.

 

[Lugia667]

how is Xenoblade a damaged franchise? Because of one Dunkey video?

 

[Noleth]

how is Xenoblade a damaged franchise? Because of one Dunkey video?

tbf, his Xenoblade 2 video has more views than franchise sales and is how most people see the entire franchise.

 

[SRB2KaiZ]

tbf, his Xenoblade 2 video has more views than franchise sales and is how most people see the entire franchise.

i mean most nintendo ips are pretty obscure outside of smash bros..

 

[Evil Lucario]

how is Xenoblade a damaged franchise? Because of one Dunkey video?

Online discourse that doesn't mean anything. If it meant anything, more game series would be sunk because of "cringe".

 

[Magic-Man]

Stop being pessimistic about Xenoblade, Nintendo will see it and do what they did to Golden Sun!

 

[Pillydillsy]

Stop being pessimistic about Xenoblade, Nintendo will see it and do what they did to Golden Sun!

I have never seen a sentence contradict itself as much as this one

 

[james]

tbf, his Xenoblade 2 video has more views than franchise sales and is how most people see the entire franchise.

so very few people actually care about this i promise you. i bet a bunch of people that think that video is funny still played and enjoyed xenoblade 2

i mean most nintendo ips are pretty obscure outside of smash bros..

 

[Hocot8]

As someone who has never played xenoblade I'm so confused by this narrative about it lol.

I put big doubt how "most people" supposedly view the franchise.

 

[Pillydillsy]

I mean they technically aren’t wrong. Look at the average Nintendo franchise and I would be it most people have zero idea what it is

 

[Kartina]

how is Xenoblade a damaged franchise? Because of one Dunkey video?

Actually he made 2.

 

[james]

I mean they technically aren’t wrong. Look at the average Nintendo franchise and I would be it most people have zero idea what it is

what are we considering 'the average nintendo franchise' tho, like even if we took smash as a baseline idea the majority of the roster isnt from niche series. fire emblem, xenoblade, pikmin, mother and fzero? sure. but the majority of the roster is from games like mario, zelda, animal crossing, splatoon, kirby, pokemon and donkey kong.

 

[DittoM]

I remain in pain as Xenoblade is now officially the worst selling Nintendo franchise by a large margin (Of franchises still getting games)

Bayonetta and WarioWare exist

Probably, Xenoblade’s reputation is beyond repair at this point. (But Nintendo fans are likely to still hate anything Monolith makes for being anime and not Star Fox or F-Zero)

Show the average gamer the Xenoblade battle system and they’re gonna have a heart attack looking at the 10 million hud elements and large numbers. It’s not because it’s anime, Fire Emblem Three Houses sold over 4 million copies.

Character design can also be a turnoff, and Xenoblade 2 definitely did that for some people. Though it seems like that game found it’s own audience, because I can’t browse the Xenoblade subreddit without getting bombarded with horny Pyra art.

But at the end of the day, does any of this really matter? As long as MonolithSoft is content to keep pumping these games out, I don’t think the sales mean much. It’s not gonna sell 8 million copies per entry, it doesn’t match the typical vibe of other Nintendo games, so it shouldn’t be expected to sell as well as those. As a Metroid fan I’ve long since made peace with this lol.

 

[Pillydillsy]

what are we considering 'the average nintendo franchise' tho, like even if we took smash as a baseline idea the majority of the roster isnt from niche series. fire emblem, xenoblade, pikmin, mother and fzero? sure. but the majority of the roster is from games like mario, zelda, animal crossing, splatoon, kirby, pokemon and donkey kong.

The average Nintendo franchise is any franchise made by Nintendo or their 2nd party studios. Look at any comprehensive list of Nintendo franchises and imagine yourself asking somebody, even a big fan of gaming, if they played a game from those franchises and what they would say. I would wager most franchises would be met with a hard no

 

[AegisField]

A JRPG franchise that can sell over 2M on a single platform is impressive enough to me.
The only exclusive in the Switch era that sold below my expectations was Bayonetta 3, but I don't think even that lost money.

 

[Rooster]

It's weird enough to grapple with the dissonance where the best selling Pikmin has sold more than the best selling Metroid.

In no small part due to so many people treating the former like a c-tier series and the latter, erroneously, like an a-tier series.

Though I don't think that record will last that long what with MP4.

Also Xenoblade is the kind of series that is typically conducive to being niche. That's fine, it still sells well for what it is.

 

[ILikeFeet]

I supposed that ArtePiazza was a subsidiary of SE, but I may be mistaken.

they're not. they're a for-hire studio, just have a very long history with Square Enix due to to their work on Dragon Quest

 

[SpaceGodzilla]

It's weird enough to grapple with the dissonance where the best selling Pikmin has sold more than the best selling Metroid.

In no small part due to so many people treating the former like a c-tier series and the latter, erroneously, like an a-tier series.

Though I don't think that record will last that long what with MP4.

Also Xenoblade is the kind of series that is typically conducive to being niche. That's fine, it still sells well for what it is.

Super Metroid, and Metroid Prime are considered 2 of some of the best video games ever made and almost the rest of the series is also no slouch, yeah they don't sell the best but the sheer quality of the franchise is why Metroid is considered a S-tier Nintendo franchises even if sales don't reflect that