Famitsu’s list tallies sales data from the last four years, and while it focuses solely on Japanese figures, the top 10 largely matches up with the information in Nintendo’s international financial report for 2020 released earlier this year. With this in mind, it can be safely assumed the rest of the list would look similar for international sales figures.
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Big names include The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild at number 12 and Luigi’s Mansion 3 at number 16. Both titles were high on the list of the most downloaded Switch games in 2019, and apparently sales have not slowed down since. Beating out both Nintendo originals, however, was Minecraft. The sandbox game found itself in the number 10 spot, selling close to two million copies in Japan.
That said, it comes as little surprise that Animal Crossing: New Horizons tops the list, having sold six million copies in its native country. The latest Animal Crossing game is still selling in record numbers across the world and will likely be a best seller for years to come. In fact, worldwide, the title has sold over 31 million copies.
Animal Crossing’s Japanese sales figures are made all the more impressive considering Famitsu’s list totals all sales figures over the last four years. While Super Smash Bros. Ultimate had a few years to get to the number two spot, Animal Crossing: New Horizons is only just now coming up on its one-year anniversary. Even when taking sales figures from PlayStation and Xbox titles into account, Famitsu calculates that Animal Crossing was still Japan’s best-selling game in 2020.
Coming in on the other end of the list, squeaking in at 34 is Zelda: Link’s Awakening. Perhaps the title’s aesthetic made it a little too niche, however there’s much to love about Link’s Awakening and the adventure game still sold an impressive 300,000 units. In four years’ time, with the Switch Pro rumors hopefully realized, it will be interesting to see the new games on the Switch bestsellers list and which of the games on the current list remain.
Here’s the full list of the 35 best-selling Switch games in Japan, according to Famitsu:
Animal Crossing: New Horizons – 6,625,026
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate – 4,145,903
Pokemon Sword/Shield – 3,955,554
Splatoon 2 – 3,771,338
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe – 3,656,140
Ring Fit Adventure – 2,346,098
Super Mario Odyssey – 2,208,475
Momotaro Dentetsu: Showa, Heisei, Reiwa mo Teiban! – 1,846,039
Super Mario Party – 1,818,405
Minecraft – 1,806,925
Pokemon: Let’s Go, Pikachu / Eevee – 1,772,856
Zelda: Breath of the Wild – 1,771,235
Super Mario Maker 2 – 1,065,261
New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe – 1,031,494
Kirby Star Allies – 878,800
Luigi’s Mansion 3 – 745,825
Clubhouse Games: 51 Worldwide Classics – 630,909
Taiko no Tatsujin: Drum ‘n’ Fun! – 572,215
Fishing Spirits Nintendo Switch Version – 566,909
Dragon Quest XI S – 560,075
Super Mario 3D All-Stars – 555,345
Pikmin 3 Deluxe – 536,209
1-2 Switch – 483,430
Mario Tennis Aces – 479,866
ARMS – 461,056
Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 – 376,481
Dr. Kawashima’s Brain Training for Nintendo Switch – 363,759
Pokken Tournament DX – 344,201
Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity – 341,519
Fire Emblem: Three Houses – 323,562
Dragon Quest Builders 2 – 308,893
Paper Mario: The Origami King – 305,603
Yo-kai Watch 4 – 303,978
Zelda: Link’s Awakening – 300,027
eBaseball Powerful Pro Yakyuu 2020 – 284,876
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Source: Famitsu (via NintendoLife)