Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, released on December 7 for the Nintendo Switch, has shattered the record previously set byNew Super Mario Bros. Wiifor the Nintendo Wii to take the title as the all-time fastest-selling Nintendo game.
NintendorevealedthatSuper Smash Bros. Ultimatesold 12.08 million units as of December 31, which is a record-breaking figure after just over three weeks on the market. Incomparison,New Super Mario Bros. Wiisold 10.55 million over a month and a half.
Super Smash Bros. Ultimateis now also ranked third among the best-selling Nintendo Switch games in the hybrid console’s nearly two-year history, behindMario Kart 8 Deluxeat 15.02 million units andSuper Mario Odysseyat 13.76 million units. In fourth and fifth place areThe Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wildat 11.68 million units andPokémon: Let’s Go, PikachuandEeveeat 10.00 million units.
Nintendo also revealed that 32.37 million units of the Nintendo Switch have been sold as of December 31, with a total of 163.61 million units of games. The Nintendo Switch is already on the brink of exceeding the Nintendo 64’s lifetime sales of 32.93 million units, and about a third of the way in catching up to Nintendo’s best-selling console, the Nintendo Wii at 101.63 million units.
Nintendo Switch sales received a major boost fromSuper Smash Bros. UltimateandPokémon: Let’s Go, Pikachu,andEeveeduring the holiday season, pushing the hybrid console to become thebest-selling console of 2018in the United States. The feat is even more remarkable due to the fact that the PlayStation 4 was the best-selling console for every month of 2018 until October.
If there were any doubts thatSuper Smash Bros. Ultimatewould be a system seller, they have already been erased. The multiplayer brawler has received mostly positive reviews, and there will likely be no drop in interest in the game due to the additional content planned by Nintendo.
There are five DLC fighters that will be added to the already expansiveSuper Smash Bros. Ultimateroster, with the first revealed to be Joker, the leader of the Phantom Thieves of Hearts fromPersona 5for the PlayStation 4. Nintendo has not yet officially revealed their identities, but a leak claims that theunannounced charactersare Erdrick from theDragon Questseries, Ryu Hayabusa fromNinja Gaiden, Steve fromMinecraft, and The Marine, also known as Doomguy, from theDoomseries.
