Nintendo has released a list of the most-downloaded Switch eShop games of 2019 across the Americas, and we've shared the entire thing for you lovely lot below.
According to Nintendo's official description of the list, the ranking is "based on Nintendo eShop unit sales in 2019". This appears to include sales of '$0', however - as you'll find out when you see which game is sitting at number one - hence our decision to describe the list as 'most-downloaded' rather than 'most-sold'.
Let's take a look, shall we?
- Fortnite
- Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
- Minecraft
- Cuphead
- Untitled Goose Game
- Pokémon Sword
- Fire Emblem: Three Houses
- NBA 2K19
- New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe
- Dragon Ball FighterZ
- Pokémon Shield
- Super Mario Maker 2
- Overcooked 2
- Hollow Knight
- The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening
- Luigi's Mansion 3
- Cadence of Hyrule: Crypt of the NecroDancer Featuring The Legend of Zelda
- Super Mario Party
- Final Fantasy VII
- Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2 for Nintendo Switch
- Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Order
- Undertale
- Crypt of the NecroDancer
- Warframe
- Mortal Kombat 11
Of course, with this list being made up of eShop sales only, it's hard to get an accurate measure of how well these top indie games truly performed against Nintendo's heavy hitters. Still, it's interesting to see which titles were the most popular for those wanting to buy their games digitally.
Earlier today, we also shared a list of the top 20 most-played Switch games of 2019 based on players' play times.
Did you download many of the game listed above last year? Let us know in the comments below.
Comments 48
Well done Cadence of Hyrule getting in the top 20!
Interesting. No Mario Kart, or DQX1 S
With those free QubicGames being passed around, I'm pretty surprised none of them made the list. They were dominating the "Best Sellers" chart for a couple weeks straight.
Edit: Oh, it's for all of 2019, not just the last month. Nevermind.
Awh yea, 3 cheers for my boy Hollow Knight landing in the top 15! Interesting to see Luigis Mansion on this list as well. I knew it was doing well, but I didn't realize just how well. And I'm happy for it as well! It always felt like a rather niche series, but it seems it's finally getting the attention it deserves
Really couldn’t get into Hollow Knight
Yay Holloe Knight! I just wish Castle Crashers and A Hat in Time was there..
@Rodan2000 shame your missing out
@Yoshinator Never played a Luigi's mansion. Doesnt really interest me
I just got final fantasy 7 at the morning yesterday on switch
@DockEllisD It's not really as cut and dry as that, really.
Otherwise, Warframe would be in second place, not in the 24th spot...
Love seeing Cuphead on this list! I bought it on Xbox when it launched and could never get into it, however when I bought it on Switch this year I have put over 30 hours into it and beaten it 10+ times now. I hope Microsoft keeps putting their games on Switch in 2020.
I only see two free to play games, fortnite & warframe. Surprised there's not more. But pleased there's not more.
Did I miss any?
@Kaori-chan maybe Nintendo Switch Online games, like tetris 99, don't fit into the metric. That's my guess.
@DockEllisD most deleted games, that would be interesting.
@Kaori-chan this is for the Americas' list
@DockEllisD I suppose that's a fair point, to some extent. A part of the target audience may look at that as a deciding factor, others will simply have the same "hey, great, it's free" sentiment with all free downloads, whether that's indie games or full-fledged console titles.
@Woomy_NNYes And then there's also the difference between actually deleted and archived games...
The latter being an indicator that someone either wants to keep a certain game in their playlist for when they have room for it again, or for when they've finally bought a larger capacity Micro SD card, so they'll finally be able to fit ALL of their games on it, much like I've done, just a couple of days ago...
A well-rounded list for the most part. I'm kind of surprised Ori and the Blind Forest didn't make it on there TBH.
@Gravitron the controls in the LM3 are bad too.
@ThanosReXXX You're right. I goofed. To make space people likely archive (instead of deleting).
No signs of Ori... Too bad.
@Woomy_NNYes Technically Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2 is free to play now IF you have Nintendo Online.
@Woomy_NNYes Well, I suppose there actually will be plenty of people who delete stuff forever, seeing as they've finished the games once or multiple times, and don't care much about keeping it in their collection, which is why I made that specific distinction.
Before I finally opted to buy a 256GB Micro SD, I've archived over half of my game collection, and since yesterday, I've re-downloaded all of them again, demos included.
@DockEllisD Fortnite is closer to 11 now they had a 7 GB update recently
Makes me very happy to see Cuphead so high on the list.
@Yoshinator I'm not a Pokemon fan, but I'd bet that has more to do with UGG being download only and Sword and Shield being supplemented with a physical release.
@DockEllisD just massively popular and free and a bunch of people just got their first switch so they are gonna load up on anything free and see what this whole "Fortnite" thing is about. Makes sense Fortnite is definitely the most popular FTP game on any game system.
@Kaori-chan it either doesnt count or just not enough people have Switch online for it to make a dent. I remember seeing the NES games on the list way back when though. I think the fact that any founding switch owners downloaded tetris99 ages ago so it wouldn't make a dent
Only got four of those.
And unfortunately I contributed to Fortnite being on top.
Since I’ve only bought one non-digital game the entire time I’ve owned a Switch.....
Minecraft’s staying power is really amazing! Those guys must be wiping their own butts with thousand dollar bills at this point!! 🤣🤣😂
Ciphead lmao
Yay Marvel Ultimate.
I'm very said to see Fire Emblem, but what about Astral Chain?
That list is a tad disappointing.
@the_beaver I am also surprised that Ori did not make this list. It was made for a handheld. Great game. I bought for a second time during one of the holiday eshop sales (also have it on Xbox One).
@nimnio I think maybe to play it (NBA2k19) on the go, but not on the big screen (that is what my PS4 is for). Plus, it was dirt cheap at one point, that probably helped. Would EA to get off their high horse and bring NHL to Switch (but sadly that is unlikely).
5. Goose Game
6. Pokemon
Hahahahah.
And I'll continue to ask what I ask every times this list comes out: Who the hell is downloading Minecraft now?
This list a sad reminder that Switch does not really have many 3rd party games that sell well on Switch (not counting the free Fortnite). I mean, I have games like Mario Odyssey and Zelda BOTW, but I also buy 3rd party games. My most wanted game this year that I bought week one was Assassin's Creed Rebel Collection. Yes, I played it to death on PS4, but playing on the go was a must double dip for Switch. I jumped over from Vita to Switch, and want more games for older gamers like GTA and Mass Effect just to name a few. I will double dip just to play them on the go. Heard rumors of Metro Redux coming to Swithch, more like that please, but if no one buys them, I won't get my fix.
@nimnio Ok, maybe not the games I want to see on that list. But you are right.
@nimnio I suspect 2k19 is on the list due to it, at one point when 2K20 was on its way, getting down in price to about $2 or $3. I haven't been interested in annual sports games in quite some time. But even I felt that was a deal that couldn't be passed up. It was actually a fun game for the 10 hours or so I played. But I needed to make space on my SD card for other games (the download for 2K19 is over 30GB). So I archived it.
My tastes much be even more exotic (or weird) than I realized. I have a pretty decent sized collection of Switch titles, but I only have ONE game on this list. And it's Super Mario Party!
Two Microsoft games on 3 and 4, but in reality Spot 2 and 3 as Fortnite is free.
Besides Smash Bros, 2 Microsoft games were the top sellers on Switch.
Well over half that list is third-party games. Nice. Good to see a real mix there.
Superb results for Cuphead and Goose Game too.
@embison
Every year people are having kids and at some point they ask for Minecraft....
I only have 4 of these. None of them digitally.
And I'm in Europe so I don't count anyway - but it's still interesting that I have zero digital games from this list. And I have, like, 50.
@DockEllisD fortnite is 7gb actually.
Where's Europe's list?
Nice to see so many 3rd party games on this list. They tended to struggle on Nintendo consoles in the past.
Tap here to load 48 comments
Leave A Comment
Hold on there, you need to login to post a comment...