Last Month's Top 10 Switch Games Were All Published By Nintendo (US)

Well, makes sense. All Nintendo games are optimized purely for the Switch. Whereas most 3d party games either had their chance to shine on other platforms earlier, or are multiplatform with an other way to play it elsewhere, better if you prefer resolution / framerate.

Water’s wet in other words. All the more reason why they don’t need to release a new system to attract third parties. Stick to what you’re good at.

What you mean is the Switch isn't getting any good third party games.

This writer should be embarrassed.

Because the big third parties haven't stepped up on Switch, let's be honest. Their franchises are either entirely missing from it or late. It's not good enough. It's like they can't adjust to the reality of Switch having a gigantic userbase as they're so used to just dumping everything on Xbox and PlayStation as in previous gens.

The Indies are making great games on Switch however and reaping the rewards. Thank god for those guys.

The fact that Pokemon Sword and Shield aren't in the top 10 really should tell Game Freak to step it up.

Main reason why you buy a Nintendo system is for the 1st party software, been like that for a while.

Same reason why you don't buy an Xbox if you're looking for an extensive 1st party lineup.

I've never understood why Nintendo doesn't include digital sales when most other publishers do?

@Clyde_Radcliffe They can't adjust to the low specs. Sure many games have, but that costs money and requires good development practices. When you are just shoveling the game out the door and just barely hitting your framerate and resolution specs on the PS4/Xbone you have no hope of getting a decent switch port.

@KryptoniteKrunch Well the Indies do very well on Switch and third parties who make the effort.

@KryptoniteKrunch Which is why you get a nintendo console and a sony one. This will get you all their first party and all the third party. Unless you want Halo you don't need an xbox

@StevenG They could make original Switch games. The lower specs would actually be cheaper to develop for maybe.

@Clyde_Radcliffe Making the switch the target of the game and then adding the others with higher resolution and higher framerates could work. That costs more, as it requires better dev practices and more costly competent employees. They aren't going to make a game for just one console without some exclusive cash.

I mean, a lot of people DO buy the Switch just to play Nintendo Games.

@HotGoomba A lot more would buy it if it could also get AAA third party games.

All 10 of those games were among the overall Top 20 best-selling games on August, even though Nintendo's digital sales are still excluded.

@StevenG
Kinda hard for "a lot more people" to buy a Switch when it is still sold-out in most places...

@Retro_Player_77 Do you ppl ever stop thinking about Sword and Shield? 🤦‍♂️

@westman98 My local stores seem to have plenty. I realize this varies by region, besides Nintendo could produce more of them. They just won't take that risk and I understand it, even if I disagree.

Obviously they do stand a Chance (you just need to look at the US top 10 for 2020 so far) Popular 3rd party are mostly just not on Switch.

2 games on that list were released in the last 9 months. People are digging deep in their backlog for something to play at this point.

Glad to see Paper Mario in there.

I wish US numbers were still released. It makes these kinds of articles more fun to read.

@StevenG The low specs shouldn't stop them from releasing games built for the Switch though. The Wii got lots of 3rd party support with exclusive games that made the most of the system. Zack and Wiki, Red Steel 2, Grandslam Tennis, House of the Dead Overkill, Tatsanoku v Capcom.... to name a few.

I can't think of one Switch exclusive from a major 3rd party. Octopath Traveller was one, Bravely Default 2 will be one. Other than that, I don't think there are any others.

@StevenG WE GET IT! WE KNOW THAT YOU WANT A MORE POWERFUL SYSTEM.

This can't be true, Nintendo are doomed without triple AAA third party support.

Its no secret that most big 3rd party games either aren't on Switch or arrive much later than the other versions. Let's face it most people are buying a Switch to play Nintendo games and they have by far and away the highest sales of their exclusives out of the big 3

@Agramonte,

For people that already own a Switch for some time this may be true,but for all the potential Switch owners there are tonnes of games, just watch the Switch will sell over 20 million units of hardware this year, despite what Sony or Microsoft do.

The Switch is basically this generation’s casual platform. Wii, smartphones and tablets, and now the Switch is the must have device... Most people new to the Switch are not going to care about third party games. To be fair, what big third party games have released that would be big sellers recently? Isn’t it a rather slow part of the gaming industry cycle with releases bc the new consoles are coming out?

It's not surprising though. Out of the whole top 20 only two other games aside from Nintendo titles are on Switch, those being PGA Tour and Mortal Kombat 11. I suspect that if Nintendo were to release Digital sales Data for their games to NPD, the top 10 NPD would look very similar to Nintendo's top 10.

@HotGoomba Same thing for those that bought a PS4, it's mostly for just Sony exclusives otherwise everything else are already readily available on PC. To me if there's a port of one game out for Switch, PS4, and PC, I would just get the Switch and PC versions only. I'll only pick up the PS4 version if it's cheap enough and is only exclusive for PS4 for a long time. If the game is out on PS4 but is coming to Switch and PC later, I would just wait for the Switch and PC versions instead. I hold both those platforms to high priority over Xbox One and PS4.

@rockodoodle
When did smartphones and tablets stop being the "casual platform"?

@OorWullie Mario+Rabbids Kingdom Battle is a 3rd party game, regardless of having the word “Mario” in the title, and its phenomenal. I wish more third parties embraced the switch for exclusives...

@HammerKirby Tbh a mainline Pokemon game shouldn't be this terrible when it comes to sales of the game. The fact that not just one but both versions didn't make the top 10 here means both games are losing interest with gamers and that's not a good sign for the future of the franchise.

@Retro_Player_77
Sword/Shield is the best-selling game in the series in the last 20 years. Pokemon is currently at a peak not seen in decades.

@PretendWorking they tried competing on a power level with the N64 and GCN, both considered failures compared to the competition. Nintendo should probably keep doing what Nintendo is doing, methinks.

@HotGoomba So does everyone with a couple nickels to rub together. Nintendo needs to stop cheaping out. At least a decent display next time

@OorWullie They don't make games that way anymore. These days executives just want to milk nostalgia. Why pay to make new games when you can port your old crap?

I think this is sad honestly and only adds to the Switch seen as a Nintendo-Only system. Even though it could (and should) be so much more.

Nintendo brings their best efforts to their own console. 3rd party releases have been B team quality or worse. If 3rd party companies brought their best efforts we would see different results.

I am bloody sick of companies giving half the effort they do on other platforms and then claiming it's our fault for not wanting their leftovers and token efforts.

@PretendWorking Perhaps because it is a very old game? It was released in 2015 and cheaper on every other console. Much cheaper on PC.

Releasing old games on new platforms at full new price is not a winning recipe.

One thing that is missing in this data is digital sales.
That is where many Indie and smaller games make their "money."
Not saying it would change the top 10. But am saying it changes the profit narrative.

@StevenG I mean, I get the power, but out of all the things you would want, why would it be a better screen. At most, a bit bigger, maybe 1080p.

@Retro_Player_77 I don't have a Gaming PC, so for me it's Switch first, but if it's not on Switch or is awful on Switch, I go for the PS4 version. The Xbox for me is exclusively for Game Pass, Exclusives, Deals, and Backwards Compatibility. My next Xbox won't even have a Disc Drive, which is why I proudly call myself the "The Guy with only one Physical Xbox Game."

@HotGoomba Because the color sucks, the view angles are poor, the bezel is massive, the plastic cover is just childish.
I don't even need it to be 1080p, just not stolen out of a vtech pretend laptop.

It's just another way like the X1 instead of the X2, that Nintendo cheaped out.

@PretendWorking Witcher 3 had already been out for at least a couple years by the time it came to Switch. Many people had already played it. Re-released games basically never do as well as new titles. Unless it's some port from a failed platform like Wii U.

Very few 3rd party companies have released new content on Switch. And when they do, it's usually a PS4 title crammed onto Switch. They never make games for Switch and then upgrade them on PS4 or Xbone.

@HotGoomba I call you the guy with no Xbone games to play in a decade or two. Digital games are all rentals.

@AgentGuapo Yep, forgot about that. I actually own it but haven't spent too much time with it. I'll get to it eventually. We need more games like that.

@westman98 fair point. My guess is that the Switch will serve as the Wii for the next decade, meaning the next Nintendo platform will probably not fare nearly as well.

I do feel people should support third parties more in Nintendo platforms, but I also see why they don't. I'm quite happy to support them - infact, I don't own a single Nintendo game on my Switch yet. 3D All Stars will change that though.

@PretendWorking DK was a port of a game from a failed console that few people owned. The Switch at that time had something like 4 or 5 times as many units sold as the Wii U did. But Witcher 3 had been out for several years on several highly successful platforms. Many many more players had already had the chance to play it. Big difference.

I am not denying that the port of W3 wasn't impressive, it was very impressive.

But despite what internet forums might imply, most people don't limit themselves to only one platform. In this case, it's especially true, since Google says W3 came out before Switch was out at all. People aren't gonna wait for a game on a console that hasn't even been announced yet.

@Retro_Player_77 pokemon games always lose traction faster compared to other Nintendo games. Also like the other guy said Sword and Shield are already one of the best selling games of the series. I think it could improve for sure but some of the ppl who don't like the game are just ridiculous.

@rockodoodle
"My guess is that the Switch will serve as the Wii for the next decade, meaning the next Nintendo platform will probably not fare nearly as well."

Without actually knowing what the successor to the Switch actually is and what games will be available for it, it's impossible to make that kind of statement.

What I can tell you is that the Switch is not even remotely close to following the same sales trajectory as the Wii, so "Switch = Wii" sentiments are completely false.

People should stop being surprised that people buy Nintendo hardware primarily to play Nintendo software.

This should discard any concern that PS5/XSX|S is going to hurt the Switch in any way. If you are like most people who buys Nintendo hardware to play Nintendo software, you are going to buy a Switch.

@PretendWorking It was $60 on switch and $20 every where else. It wasn't a good fit for some markets, it never sold well in Japan on any platform.

Yeah the switch is too weak, it should have at least been an X2. It wouldn't solve the x86 vs ARM issues, but it should would have helped.

Nintendo

@PretendWorking
Not an industry pro, have no official confidential data access, but occasionally comes across leaked data 😉

@PretendWorking

Astral Chain didn't sell? It sold over a million copies in under a year and Platinum was happy with sales.

https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2020/01/astral_chain_director_says_nintendo_switch_exclusive_sold_above_expectations

@StevenG Which is why I use physical games on all my other consoles. And also, those Digital Games will go away once Xbox Game Pass goes away, which won't be for a while.

It is what it is:

Me, I’ll take a (reasonable) hit on graphics to have a game on the go (Witcher III, Dark Souls 3, Wolfenstein II), but that’s not how everybody operates.

I’ll never buy a Nintendo console for first party releases alone. It’s the main reason why I opted out of the N64, and why Wii U didn’t appeal to me. Gamecube, Wii, and Switch have had more than enough third party releases to lure me in. If the DS hadn’t had the third party support it did, it wouldn’t have been a tenth of the handheld it was.

@StevenG ok, 1. I never had problems with the color.
2. The view angles is a fair argument, but what is Nintendo gonna do? Fit a OLED screen into the Switch and watch the price skyrocket?
3. Yeah the Bezel is massive to be honest, I'll give you that.
4. The reason why it has a plastic screen is so when you drop it, it doesn't shatter and you don't have to replace it. When glass doesn't spilt into a million pieces when you drop it, come back to me.
5. Comparing the Switch to a Vtech Toy is like comparing a Guy who took a Hershey's Bar to a Terrorist.
6. I do agree that Nintendo could have made the Switch more powerful, but even then, the Tegra x2 is only half as powerful as the PS4 and it would make the price $450, which isn't really appealing to families.

In actual fact Astral Chain sold very well. It's been one of Platinum's most successful titles. They themselves have said many times that sales exceeded expectations. A very niche title selling well over a million copies is no mean feat. Many developers would take that happily.

One month of sales data in one region for physical copies is clearly a good indicator of how well third-party software has sold over the Switch's lifespan.

@Shamrock let that sink in

Sword/Shield is the best-selling game in the series in the last 20 years. Pokemon is currently at a peak not seen in decades.

@westman98 By that very token... how is it that a full Switch iteration of Pokémon is not outselling Super Mario Party (poorly received, from what I've seen) or Luigi's Mansion? Or do the Pokémon games lack long sales tails?

(NB: I've not played a single Party or Pokémon game - I'm just curious)

That's why I buy Nintendo consoles...for Nintendo games. Couldn't care less about 3rd party games.

@Retro_Player_77 Why? Because Sword and Shield are the best selling base versions since Gen 2?

Buying a Nintendo console for third party content that aren't third party exclusives is like becoming a PC gamer for new first-party Valve games.

@COVIDberry Sword and Shield sold over 18 million copies combined. Party sold nearly 11 and Luigis Mansion sold over 6.

@westman98 just thinking in the mindset of a casual gamer. I just think a lot of people will have enough videogames for a while and not feel the need to upgrade. I am somewhat of a casual gamer myself, just a big fan of Nintendo, so I will get it more than likely.

But u never know. Maybe Nintendo will top itself with consecutive systems.

@COVIDberry
Pokemon games are always listed as 2 separate SKUs, which makes it difficult for each SKU to chart alongside other top-sellers.
If Super Mario Party was separated into Super Mario Party A and Super Mario Party B, neither version would chart.

Pokemon has also historically had weaker legs than other Nintendo games due to its near-annualized release schedule (though that isn't as much of a problem now that the 3rd version games have been replaced by DLC).

People are probably still going to be buying Mario kart 8 in 2030.

@westman98 @Sinister Ah, yes! I should have recalled that they were sold as two separate installments. Thanks for the reminder.

Even with the annualized releases, the sight of Animal Crossing New Horizons and even BOTW surpassing an installment of Pokémon is very striking.

Speaking of CD Projekt Red conclusion is that Witcher 3 will not sell (and it's better game than 90% of Nintendo stuff on Switch), but pushing boundaries with new games like Cyberpunk 2077 should be limited as games should be made for Switch and then upgraded to much more powerful platforms?
Jesus Christ, talking about royal entitlement...

@PretendWorking Hmm. I think I approach this question from a very different perspective. The mania that the IT industry has had (even since the 1980s) for ever more power - RAM, then CPU, then disk throughput, now GPU - has drowned out the former custom of adapting one's software to constraints. Honing one's software to a less powerful machine is not only a display of programming skill and elegance, but innovation; it is also profoundly pro-customer. Instead of forcing us to continually invest in more and more to compensate for developer laziness and poor optimization, isn't it nice that lesser machines can do more as time goes on?

I understand fully that Nintendo is charging us full price for their "withered technology" and pocketing the difference. And I can certainly appreciate the difference between games running on GB of RAM rather than MB. But I do think that optimization is better for everyone - even for energy efficiency and the environment, in the long view.

@PretendWorking Astral Chain simply wasn't marketed well, and to many not that good a game. It was a very niche jrpg.

@HotGoomba 1. It sucks
2. Yeah, even cheap phones have OLED now. $10 isn't skyrocketing.
4. This is a solved problem, you put a lip around the device. Come on. Even a foam cover like a kids tablet could have been included.
5. that's how bad this display is.
6. Maybe they could have had a pro and a normal unit? Everyone else seems to have made that work.

@StevenG
[I removed this part as it made me seem like a Karen lol]

A plastic screen is a great option. The only problem is, it'll scratch easier, but if you have a screen protector, which is wicked cheap on Amazon, you're fine.

And why are you so against the colors on the screen? You aren't wrong with the OLED thing, although back in like 2016 that would have cost more. But I've seen no problems with the colors. If anything, it looks better on a TV, but of course it will, anything would look better on a tv than on a 6 inch screen.

No, the display ISN'T comparable to a Vtech Toy. At worst, a higher quality 3ds screen.

Of course they are, is anyone surprised? I loved my Switch but lets face it, most people have another system and the games are always cheaper on PS4 and Xbox than they are on eshop. People tend to buy the Switch for the 1st party games.

@HotGoomba
4. Masks work you Covidiot. A lip will protect the glass. Works fine.
I shouldn't have to add on stuff that should have been there already. Stop dropping your things. Of course being a Covidiot you can't do that.

The 3ds screen is total crap.

I am done with you plague rat.

@PretendWorking From the artwork it sure looks like one. Clearly their marketing failed if I don't even know the genre. Maybe they should have at least gotten that message out.

@StevenG I KNOW MASKS WORK IM SAYING THAT THEY DONT 100% PROTECT YOU, NOT THAT THEYRE DEFECTIVE, STOP COMPARING ME TO KARENS

@StevenG And yeah the 3ds Screen wasn't a great comparison

@StevenG I apologise if it seem like a Covidiot.

But I'm not. I'm saying that Masks don't make you invincible, kinda like how lips doesn't make glass indestructible.

Bad comparison on my part, so I'm sorry, but I still think that the Switch screen is fine as a plastic screen.

Oh and lips can make it a problem inserting the Switch into a dock but idk anymore byeeeeee

@PretendWorking Because it looks like a JRPG and their marketing failed totally?

@johnvboy That is fine for them, I got mine on launch - so I played ZBOTW more than 3 years ago. The PS5 sold out here in the US in a day and the 3080 barely lasted 30min before selling out everywhere (Even the $800 cards are gone) That Switch sells 20 million wont change any of that either. 2 different hardware to play very different gaming experience.

@Agramonte,

Not sure what I said that you replied to, but from your comment I am pretty sure we agree with each other on some level.