The Nintendo Switch recently celebrated its fifth anniversary, and Japanese publication Famitsu used it as an opportunity to put together a "top 35" best-selling game list in the country since the system's launch.
While Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is the best global seller, Animal Crossing: New Horizons has taken out the top spot in Japan. Also placed ahead of Mario Kart, is Super Smash Bros. Ultimate in second place. Some of the Pokémon games also made the top, and further down the list is The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.
Here's the full list and sales so far, via Nintendo Everything:
1. Animal Crossing: New Horizons – 7,183,333
2. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate – 4,764,379
3. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe – 4,429,626
4. Pokemon Sword / Shield – 4,309,812
5. Splatoon 2 – 4,031,223
6. Ring Fit Adventure – 3,074,777
7. Momotaro Dentetsu: Showa, Heisei, Reiwa mo Teiban! – 2,597,078
8. Minecraft – 2,514,952
9. Pokemon Brilliant Diamond / Shining Pearl – 2,502,926
10. Monster Hunter Rise – 2,357,260
11. Super Mario Odyssey – 2,323,559
12. Super Mario Party – 2,060,160
13. Zelda: Breath of the Wild – 1,955,649
14. Pokemon Legends: Arceus – 1,923,870
15. Pokemon: Let’s Go, Pikachu / Eevee – 1,794,024
16. Super Mario Maker 2 – 1,197,024
17. New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe – 1,158,604
18. Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury – 1,018,313
19. Kirby Star Allies – 963,497
20. Clubhouse Games: 51 Worldwide Classics – 927,244
21. Mario Party Superstars – 865,507
22. Luigi’s Mansion 3 – 829,847
23. Taiko no Tatsujin: Drum ‘n’ Fun! – 696,054
24. Fishing Spirits: Nintendo Switch Version – 675,710
25. Pikmin 3 Deluxe – 614,770
26. Super Mario 3D All-Stars – 614,454
27. Dragon Quest XI S – 561,482
28. Mario Tennis Aces – 499,331
29. 1-2 Switch – 488,309
30. ARMS – 466,695
31. Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 – 422,191
32. Dr. Kawashima’s Brain Training for Nintendo Switch – 415,158
33. Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity – 387,707
34. Pokken Tournament DX – 355,713
35. eBaseball Powerful Pro Yakyuu 2020 – 342,187
Many of these games are still being celebrated in Japan. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe has new DLC arriving later this month and Smash Bros. Ultimate director Masahiro Sakurai was recently recognised as the country's most valuable creator at the Famitsu Dengeki Game Awards 2021.
Does anything on this list surprise you? How many of the games above have you added to your own Switch collection so far? Tell us in the comments below.
[source famitsu.com, via nintendoeverything.com]
Comments 35
Kinda shocking to see Smash Ultimate ahead of Mario Kart 8, but I'm glad to see it.
I remember when Monster Hunter games easily past 4 million on the 3ds. Wonder if they're losing interest.
There's a few things here I wasn't expecting. Mario Oddessey really should be higher up on the list, I feel. Also realized this is Switch specific, and wouldn't include BotW sales from Wii U
PLA worst switch game
But in all all seriousness BDSP is criminally under rated
Pikmin 3 Deluxe coming in at number 25. That gives me hope!
Good on Pikmin 3 Deluxe for coming in at number 25!
So many great games on this list. Animal Crossing and Smash are such beasts, tons of content in both games. I still play AC everyday and Smash has been fun to go back to every so often.
How do they count games which came with the Switch when you bought it? For example BOTW came with a lot of Switches so I'm surprised to see it so low on the list.
Not a single Sega games are up there proving that even in 2022 Sega is still not popular in Japan even after acquiring Atlus. This is why if Sega ever made a console again they will continue to failed.
Q : Does anything on this list surprise you ?
Me : Japanese gamers still have interest with ARMS. Glad to see some love for ARMS.
@FishyS They don't make a lot of special bundles, those are limited time releases. If they had done what they did with the Wii where it came with a copy of Wii Sports than that's a different story but bundles are not the same as pack-in releases. Also a majority of bundles came with the game as digital download or code in the box so that doesn't count towards the sales figure anyways. This list is likely just for physical game sales only.
Surprised botw sold only 1.95 million.
But what about the best selling games in North America, and Europe? I seldom see those lists. It’s always Japan 🤔
@PhhhCough
I would imagine a number of those sales were on the Wii U
BDSP were ok but they could have been better. As for Animal Crossing being at the top, that does not surprise me. Throughout the Pandemic everytime I went online people on my friendlist were always playing it. I have the game myself but I got bored of it after a while. It's nice and relaxing but admittedly it can get pretty boring
@Specter_of-the_OLED No sega games, but all but a handful of the games on this list are Nintendo exclusives so not much diversity in general. However, I saw Puyo Puyo sold well in Japan on another list so I bet it's not too far below these ones.
Actually, Mario and Sonic at the Olympics was made by sega and is on this list so there is one even if it is Mario franchise also. I'm surprised that one is so high tbh.
Ring Fit Adventure has very impressive sales. Come on Nintendo give us more ring fit type games.
@Spoony_Tech MH didn’t easy 4m in Japan only?
I'm so happy to see Dragon Quest XI S make it to the top 30. I love that franchise to death.
if you play Momotaro Dentetsu you can get know japanese map and local speciality.
Reminder that Ringfit on Launch was at just 68,497. The vast majority of the 3+ million sales was sheer legs
@Spoony_Tech In terms of retail sales, the 3DS Monster Hunter games ranged from about 2.5 million to 3.5 million. Since the Switch numbers don’t include digital sales, which are likely higher than on 3DS, I doubt there has been any real decline.
no suprise to see Animal Crossing New Horizon at the top, pandemic helped the game sell on Japan and the franchise is very popular on the country.
@FishyS Most likely the Olympics in Tokyo helped drive interest, even if Nintendo abandoned it lol.
Animal crossing has been such a beast sales wise, the previous best sales in the series were around 12 million.
@Giancarlothomaz,
Surely the pandemic would help sales of all titles, as a lot of Nintendo games have an evergreen sales nature, Animal crossing is pretty much selling everywhere and has a much wider appeal than previous entries in the series.
Surprised Mario Odyssey and BOTW are so low.
@johnvboy true, the pandemic along with the critical reception helped Animal Crossing New Horizon become the best selling game of the franchise.
For comparisons sake, the Top 10 PS4 games in Japan, in the same 5 year time frame, according to Famitsu:
1. Monster Hunter: World (1,963,522)
2. Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age (1,368,698)
3. Final Fantasy XV (1,036,879)
4. Kingdom Hearts 3 (722,201)
5. Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 (499,765)
6. Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain (442,032)
7. NieR: Automata (407,637)
8. Knack (400,888)
9 .Persona 5 (399,213)
10. Call of Duty: WWII (387,498)
@Giancarlothomaz,
And surely it being a good game has not hindered it either, but sure the Pandemic helped video gaming as a whole
@PhhhCough zelda isnt as popular in japan as it is in the west. This list also doesnt include digital sales, and the Wii U game sold a couple hundred thousand as well. So all told BotW is probably close to 3 million in Japan from both the WiiU & Switch. Whigh is very good for Japan. The series just isn't a huge seller in Japan. Same with Mario. Both Zelda and Mario as franchises underperform in Japan conpared to the rest of the world.
This can't be right... doesn't Human: Fall Flat sell at least a million billion copies every week in Japan???
@Slownenberg @ModdedInkling right, forgot about wii u and digital. Interesting that the well known faces of nintendo, do not sell well in japan. Different strokes, for different folks.
Japan doesn't like Fire Emblem? That it couldn't even sell 350k is a shock.
Metroid too.
@TKundNobody Na época, os 4 milhões eram do mundo todo. Atualmente já vendeu 8 milhões.
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