Switch software sales update: Mario Kart 8 still reigns supreme, as Pokemon Pearl/Diamond overtake Let’s Go

Everything else had marginal gains

Thanks to the new Nintendo financial update for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2022, we have new software data: and it’s not super exciting! Let’s dive into another Switch software sales update, as Nintendo reveals that it has 39 “million-seller” titles, with 26 of them falling under the first-party category, and 13 from third-party publishers.

Here’s how things look right now as of May 10, 2022:

• Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (45.33 million sold)
• Animal Crossing: New Horizons (38.64m)
• Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (28.17m)
• The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (26.55m)
• Pokemon Sword/Shield (24.27m)
• Super Mario Odyssey (23.5m)
• Super Mario Party (17.78m)
• Pokemon Brilliant Diamond/Shining Pearl (14.65m) moved up from 9th place since December 31, 2021
• Pokemon Let’s Go Pikachu/Eevee (14.53m) moved down from 8th place since December 31, 2021
• Ring Fit Adventure (14.09m)

The big bolded bit is the important part here, as Pokemon Brilliant Diamond/Shining Pearl ended up becoming a huge hit for Nintendo in a relatively short amount of time. It beat out Let’s Go, finally, which is something any number of projects have been trying to do since November of 2018. If it keeps this pace up it’ll at least beat out Super Mario Party for the 7th overall slot.

Everything else had relatively marginal gains in this new Switch software sales update. The last check-in date was December 31, 2021, and at that point, Mario Kart 8 had penetrated the market with 43.35 million in sales: so the increase was fairly small (comparatively: it’s still a powerhouse!). Animal Crossing pushed an additional million in sales in that same time period between December 31 and March 31. The rest generally sold an extra half a million copies or less. Expect Pokemon Legends to make waves eventually if it keeps selling and knock Ring Fit Adventure off the list: it has 11.4 million in sales and counting in 10 weeks’ time.

When Nintendo was talking about “evergreen” titles losing their luster,” these marginal increases are what they’re talking about. The gaming market has become so saturated that it can be really tough to keep peddling the same games.