If there was any doubt that the ink-flinging series of third person games is up there as a top tier Nintendo franchise, it has been announced by the company that Splatoon 3 has sold more than a million copies per day – in Japan alone – since launching on Friday, 9th September.
“Nintendo Co., Ltd. (HQ: Kyoto, Minami-ku, Japan; Representative Director and President: Shuntaro Furukawa) announced that domestic sales of the Splatoon 3 game for the Nintendo Switch system have surpassed 3.45 million units in the first three days since its launch on September 9, 2022. This is the highest domestic sales level for any Nintendo Switch software within the first three days,” an announcement reads.
This number is comprised of both downloaded digital versions and physical packaged copies of the game, as announced on the Nintendo Japanese finance website here.
As this announcement focuses on Japan it will be interesting to see what the worldwide sales figures are. Hopefully Nintendo of America will at least reveal similar numbers soon so we can see what the difference is when compared to the USA.
With so much success in such as short time we wonder what the lasting impact of Splatoon 3 will be. The same Nintendo Japanese Finance website has a list of the top sellers on the Nintendo Switch by way of lifetime performance. Several games such as Ring Fit Adventure, the two Pokémon: Let’s Go titles and Pokémon Brilliant Diamond / Shining Pearl all have just under 15 million each. We wouldn’t be surprised to see Splatoon 3 eclipse these.
Another point worth mentioning about that list is just how much it shows off the sheer selling power of Nintendo franchises. While other consoles depend quite a bit on cross-platform titles, it seems Nintendo can live off of exclusives alone. With the top of the list being Mario Kart 8 Deluxe with an astounding 46.82 million units sold, that’s not too much of a stretch to imagine.
Back to Splatoon 3 now and, for those who have not played a Splatoon game before, but find themselves intrigued by all this talk about the game, check out our coverage of the game here where a newcomer to the series tries the latest title out.
