Nintendo released their financial report for the last nine months (April through December 2015), which included a look at their best-selling software, along with hardware numbers. In what may or may not surprise many who follow the industry, both Splatoon and Mario Maker seem to have outsold Halo 5.
Taking a closer look at the numbers, Splatoon and Mario Maker have sold 4 million and 3.3 million copies respectively. These numbers sound good, but get even better when compared with the best idea we have of Microsoft’s flagship exclusive, Halo 5. The company said earlier this year that Halo 5, along with Rise of the Tomb Raider and Forza 6 has sold more than 1 million copies. Even doubling that number to over 2 million copies would set both of Nintendo’s exclusives at significantly higher units sold than the Xbox’s biggest first-party title.
While Microsoft hasn’t provided more specific units sold numbers, they said shortly after launch that the game had grossed more than $400 million in revenue. That number can include limited editions and special console editions as well, so it wouldn’t be accurate to draw units sold from that figure.
Here’s a break down of the top-selling Wii U games:
Wii U
- Splatoon—4.06 million
- Super Mario Maker—3.34 million
- Mario Kart 8—2.13 million
- Yoshi’s Woolly World—1.31 million
Nintendo’s Splatoon and Mario Maker numbers are even more impressive considering that, to date, the Wii U has sold a paltry 12 million units. Considering that the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One launched a year after Nintendo’s console, yet have sold roughly 36 million and 19 million units respectively, these games’ sales numbers are fantastic. Roughly 30 percent of the Wii U’s user base bought Splatoon, and over a quarter bought Mario Maker – percentages much higher than games seen on other consoles.
The 3DS also continues to have strong sales, hitting almost 58 million units sold, with over 264 million software units sold. The best-selling games for the handheld console were Pokemon X/Y with 14 million, and Mario Kart 7 with 13 million. Nintendo’s profits are up 34.4%, even though sales dropped 3.9% from the year before. You can see the rest of the top-selling games below.
Nintendo 3DS
- Pokémon X/Y—14.46 million
- Mario Kart 7—13.03 million
- Pokémon Omega Ruby/Sapphire—11.46 million
- Super Mario 3D Land—10.04 million
- Animal Crossing: New Leaf—9.86 million
- Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS—7.92 million
- Tomodachi Life—4.89 million
- Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon—4.75 million
- Nintendogs+cats—3.96 million
Via GameSpot and SiliconEra.
