Animal Crossing New Horizons

In some ways, 2020 has felt like a pretty quiet year on the Nintendo front, but that doesn't mean that Switch owners have been starved of content. We'd argue that the opposite is true, in fact, especially if you're using this slight lull in major new releases to pick up games you might have missed, and that's exactly what players in Japan have been doing.

Nintendo has released a list of the top 30 best-selling games on the Switch eShop during the first half of 2020. There are two charts - one for downloads of retail games and one for digital exclusives - and as you can see, plenty of games that originally launched in years gone by are still doing the business today.

Thanks to Perfectly Nintendo for compiling these lists:

Most-Downloaded Switch Retail Games (Jan - Jun 2020)

  1. Animal Crossing: New Horizons (Nintendo) [20.3.2020]
  2. Clubhouse Games: 51 Worldwide Classics (Nintendo) [05.6.2020]
  3. Human: Fall Flat (Teyon Japan) [28.12.2017]
  4. Splatoon 2 (Nintendo) [21.7.2017]
  5. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (Nintendo) [28.4.2017]
  6. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (Nintendo) [07.12.2018]
  7. NBA 2K20 (Take-Two Japan) [06.9.2019]
  8. Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Rescue Team DX (The Pokémon Company) [06.3.2020]
  9. Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch (Level-5) [20.9.2019]
  10. Minecraft (Mojang / Microsoft Japan) [21.6.2018]
  11. Layton’s Mystery Journey: Katrielle and the Millionaires’ Conspiracy DX (Level-5) [09.8.2018]
  12. Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition (Nintendo) [29.5.2020]
  13. Overcooked! 2 (Team17) [07.8.2018]
  14. Pokémon Sword (The Pokémon Company) [15.11.2019]
  15. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Nintendo) [03.3.2017]
  16. Brain Training for Nintendo Switch (Nintendo) [27.12.2019]
  17. Super Mario Party (Nintendo) [05.10.2018]
  18. Fitness Boxing (Imagineer) [20.12.2018]
  19. Undertale (8-4) [15.9.2018]
  20. Pokémon Shield (The Pokémon Company) [15.11.2019]
  21. Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate (Capcom) [25.8.2017]
  22. Fire Emblem: Three Houses (Nintendo) [26.7.2019]
  23. Trials of Mana (Square-Enix) [24.4.2020]
  24. Snack World: The Dungeon Crawl – Gold (Level-5) [12.4.2018]
  25. Dragon Quest XI S: Echoes of an Elusive Age – Definitive Edition (Square-Enix) [27.9.2019]
  26. Kotoba no Puzzle Mijipittan Encore (Bandai-Namco) [02.4.2020]
  27. Hatsune Miku: Project Diva Mega 39’s (SEGA) [13.2.2020]
  28. Super Mario Maker 2 (Nintendo) [28.6.2019]
  29. Luigi’s Mansion 3 (Nintendo) [31.10.2019]
  30. Yo-kai Watch 1 for Nintendo Switch (Level-5) [10.10.2019]

Most-Downloaded Digital-Only Switch Games (Jan - Jun 2020)

  1. Minecraft Dungeons (Mojang / Microsoft Japan) [26.5.2020]
  2. Final Fantasy VII (Square-Enix) [26.3.2019]
  3. Futari de! Nyanko Dai Senso (Ponos) [20.12.2020]
  4. Guilty Gear XX Accent Core Plus R (Arc System Works) [16.5.2019]
  5. Of Sand and Mice -Revised- (Arc System Works) [21.12.2017]
  6. Dragon Quest III: The Seeds of Salvation (Square-Enix) [27.9.2019]
  7. Final Fantasy IX (Square-Enix) [14.2.2019]
  8. Cuphead (StudioMDHR) [18.4.2019]
  9. Good Job! (Nintendo) [26.3.2020]
  10. Oumori Charisou DX (spicysoft) [08.2.2018]
  11. Resident Evil 6 (Capcom) [31.10.2019]
  12. Puzzle & Dragons Gold (GungHo Online Entertainment) [15.1.2020]
  13. Ultimate Chicken Horse (Clever Endeavour Games) [25.9.2018]
  14. Gnosia (Petit Depotto) [30.4.2020]
  15. Final Fantasy VIII Remastered (Square-Enix) [03.9.2019]
  16. Dragon Quest X All-in-One Package (Square-Enix) [14.5.2020]
  17. Goonya Fighter (Mutan) [27.6.2019]
  18. Dead Cells (Motion Twin) [07.8.2018]
  19. Conduct Together (Northplay) [13.6.2019]
  20. Overcooked! Special Edition (Team17) [12.10.2017]
  21. Resident Evil 5 (Capcom) [31.10.2019]
  22. Cities: Skylines Nintendo Switch Edition (Paradox Interactive) [14.9.2018]
  23. 10 Second Run Returns (Blueprint) [21.12.2017]
  24. Catch ‘Em! Goldfish Scooping (D3 Publisher) [02.8.2018]
  25. Stardew Valley (ConcernedApe) [11.1.2018]
  26. Kuukiyomi: Consider It! (G-Mode) [30.8.2018]
  27. Tick Tock: A Tale for Two (Other Tales Interactive) [05.12.2019]
  28. Kuukiyomi: Consider It More! – New Era (G-Mode) [26.9.2019]
  29. Invisigun Reloaded (Sombr Studio) [05.9.2019]
  30. Dragon Quest II: Luminaries of the Legendary Line (Square-Enix) [27.9.2019]

Any surprises on these lists? We can't get over Human: Fall Flat's huge popularity with the Japanese audience...

[source nintendo.co.jp, via perfectly-nintendo.com]