Super Mario Odyssey was one of the most anticipated games of 2017, and it appears that Nintendo Switch owners wasted no time in picking up the mustachioed (former) plumber’s latest adventure. In just three days, the game has sold more than 2 million copies, making it the fastest-selling Mario game of all-time in both North America and Europe.
“While about 7 million units of Nintendo Switch hardware have been delivered into the hands of our consumers around the world, we estimate that the global sell-through of Super Mario Odyssey has already exceeded 2 million units in just its first three days,” said Nintendo President Tatsumi Kimishima in a financial briefing. Kimishima added that Nintendo wants the game to become an “evergreen” title with legs “beyond this holiday season.”
Kimishima also revealed that the SNES Classic Edition and its international variants have managed to sell 2 million total units as well, and reiterated that the console will not be discontinued anytime soon.
“The expectation is that the chance to interact with video games for those who either haven’t done so in a long while or those who never have will lead to a greater appreciation for our newest gaming console, Nintendo Switch,” he added.
One other trend that is particularly encouraging for the Nintendo Switch is players’ continued console use. With a steady stream of games releasing throughout 2017, Nintendo didn’t see much dropoff. After the release of Arms and then Splatoon 2, even more people were playing the system. Given those games’ summer release dates, they also had little competition from other big-name titles.
Nintendo’s plan to have users play the Switch in both its docked and handheld modes appears to be working. About 20 percent of users play the system exclusively in its dock, while about 30 percent play the system exclusively as a handheld. The other half of users switch between the two modes. Some games are better-suited to the docked mode, such as Super Mario Odyssey, while games like Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe work quite well in the handheld mode, so type of usage could vary from game to game.
The Nintendo Switch still has one more heavy hitter releasing in 2017: Xenoblade Chronicles 2. The open-world Japanese role-playing game is the sequel to one of the most acclaimed games on the Wii, as well as a successor to the Wii U’s Xenoblade Chronicles X.
Updated: Added information on Super Mario Odyssey becoming the fastest-selling Mario game ever.
