Mario Kart 8 Deluxe has sold 71.08 million copies on the Nintendo Switch, a figure that makes it not just the console’s biggest game but one of the best-selling video games ever released. It has outsold the second-place title by more than 21 million copies.
The wider pattern is just as striking. Nintendo published every single game in the top 10, and those 10 titles alone account for more than a fifth of all software sold for the system. Here are the best-selling Nintendo Switch games, using Nintendo’s own sales data through March 31, 2026.
Best-Selling Nintendo Switch Games at a Glance
| Rank | Game | Units Sold | Released | Genre |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mario Kart 8 Deluxe | 71.08 million | April 2017 | Kart racing |
| 2 | Animal Crossing: New Horizons | 49.91 million | March 2020 | Social simulation |
| 3 | Super Smash Bros. Ultimate | 37.76 million | December 2018 | Fighting |
| 4 | The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild | 33.84 million | March 2017 | Action-adventure |
| 5 | Super Mario Odyssey | 30.50 million | October 2017 | Platformer |
| 6 | Pokémon Scarlet and Violet | 28.28 million | November 2022 | Role-playing |
| 7 | Pokémon Sword and Shield | 27.16 million | November 2019 | Role-playing |
| 8 | The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom | 22.56 million | May 2023 | Action-adventure |
| 9 | Super Mario Party | 21.32 million | October 2018 | Party |
| 10 | New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe | 18.96 million | January 2019 | Platformer |
The 10 Best-Selling Switch Games
1. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe: 71.08 Million
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is a 2017 rerelease of a 2014 Wii U game, which makes its performance remarkable. The Wii U original sold 8.46 million copies, and the Switch version has sold more than eight times that.
Its sales are best understood as an attach rate. With 155.92 million Switch consoles shipped, roughly 46% of all Switch owners bought this one game. It kept selling steadily for eight years rather than front-loading, which is why it finished so far ahead.
2. Animal Crossing: New Horizons: 49.91 Million
Animal Crossing: New Horizons launched in March 2020, days after lockdowns began across much of the world, and became the defining game of that period. It sold more than 11 million copies in its first 11 days.
Timing explains part of that, but not all of it. The series had never sold anywhere near this level before, and New Horizons brought in a large audience that had not previously played games on Nintendo hardware.
3. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate: 37.76 Million
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate assembled every playable fighter from the series’ history, more than 80 characters in total, an unusual feat given the licensing involved across rival publishers.
It is the best-selling fighting game ever made by a wide margin. Nintendo published it, but development was led by Bandai Namco Studios and Sora Ltd. rather than an internal Nintendo team.
4. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild: 33.84 Million
Breath of the Wild launched alongside the Switch in March 2017 and did more than any other title to establish the console. Its open-ended design reshaped expectations for open-world games well beyond Nintendo.
It also shipped simultaneously on the Wii U, where it sold a fraction of the Switch total. The contrast is one of the clearest illustrations of how completely the Switch reversed Nintendo’s fortunes.
5. Super Mario Odyssey: 30.50 Million
Super Mario Odyssey arrived in October 2017, giving the Switch two of the most acclaimed games of its launch year. It returned the series to the free-roaming exploration of Super Mario 64.
Its central mechanic, possessing enemies and objects with Mario’s hat, gave the game a variety of movement options unusual for the series. It remains the only mainline 3D Mario title released for the original Switch.
6. Pokémon Scarlet and Violet: 28.28 Million
Pokémon Scarlet and Violet sold 28.28 million copies despite widely reported technical problems at launch, including frame rate drops and visual glitches that drew unusual criticism for a Nintendo-published release.
The sales figure is the important lesson here. It confirms that Pokémon demand is largely independent of reviews, since the games sold at record pace regardless.
7. Pokémon Sword and Shield: 27.16 Million
Sword and Shield were the first mainline Pokémon games built for home console hardware rather than a handheld. Developer Game Freak cut a large portion of the creature roster, a decision that generated significant backlash.
Sales were unaffected, and the pair sits just behind Scarlet and Violet. The two Pokémon entries together account for 55.44 million copies across the console.
8. The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom: 22.56 Million
Tears of the Kingdom followed Breath of the Wild in May 2023, reusing the same map while adding building and fusion mechanics that let players construct their own vehicles and weapons.
It sold 10 million copies in three days, the fastest start of any Zelda game. Its lifetime total sits well below its predecessor, largely because it arrived six years later in the console’s life cycle.
9. Super Mario Party: 21.32 Million
Super Mario Party sold 21.32 million copies on the strength of local multiplayer at a time when most competitors were building online-first experiences. The Switch’s detachable controllers made four-player couch play possible without buying extra hardware.
Its position here says something about who bought a Switch. Games designed for people sitting in the same room performed disproportionately well on this console.
10. New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe: 18.96 Million
New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe is the second Wii U port on this list, arriving in January 2019. Like Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, it vastly outsold the original.
The Wii U sold roughly 13.5 million consoles across its entire life, so its best games reached almost nobody. The Switch gave that library a second chance in front of an audience more than ten times larger.
Nintendo Published Every Game in the Top 10
No third-party title appears anywhere in the top 10, which sets the Switch apart from the PlayStation and Xbox ecosystems where third-party releases routinely top the charts.
The Mario franchise alone accounts for four of the 10 entries, with Zelda and Pokémon contributing two each. Combined, those three franchises hold eight of the top 10 places. Nintendo’s dependence on its own intellectual property is a genuine business risk, but on this console it worked, and our ranking of the best-selling video game franchises shows how deep those catalogs run.
Launch-Year Games Kept Selling for a Decade
Three of the top five games were released in 2017, the Switch’s first year. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, Breath of the Wild, and Super Mario Odyssey all arrived within eight months of the console and then sold continuously for the better part of a decade.
This is unusual. On most platforms, sales concentrate heavily in the weeks after release and then fall away sharply. Nintendo rarely discounts its own titles, so these games held near full price for years, and each new console buyer encountered essentially the same recommended library. Long tails, not launch spikes, produced these numbers.
How the Switch Compares to Nintendo’s Own History
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is Nintendo’s best-selling paid game ever, though it is not the company’s highest-selling title outright. Wii Sports moved 82.90 million copies, about 11.8 million more, but it was bundled free with the Wii console in most territories.
Judged on games people actively chose to buy, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe leads Nintendo’s entire catalog. The Nintendo Switch itself shipped 155.92 million units, placing it among the most successful consoles ever made, as covered in our ranking of the best-selling game consoles.
Ten Games, a Fifth of All Software Sold
The top 10 titles have sold 341.37 million copies between them. Nintendo has shipped 1,528.14 million pieces of Switch software in total, meaning these 10 games represent 22.3% of everything sold for the system.
Thousands of titles were released for the Switch, and 10 of them took more than a fifth of the market. That concentration is why publishers chase a small number of blockbuster releases, and it is a pattern that repeats across the industry rather than being unique to Nintendo.
How We Ranked the Best-Selling Switch Games
Figures come from Nintendo’s published sales data for the original Nintendo Switch, current as of March 31, 2026. They cover worldwide units life-to-date and include both physical and downloadable copies as well as bundled software.
Nintendo reports shipments rather than sell-through, so figures reflect units sent to retailers. Games sold as paired versions, such as Pokémon Scarlet and Violet, are counted together as Nintendo reports them. Titles released for the Nintendo Switch 2 are excluded, since that is a separate platform with its own sales reporting.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the best-selling Nintendo Switch game?
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, with 71.08 million copies sold as of March 2026. It is also Nintendo’s best-selling paid game across the company’s entire history.
Is Mario Kart 8 Deluxe the best-selling Nintendo game ever?
It is the best-selling game people paid for separately. Wii Sports sold 82.90 million, but it came bundled with the Wii console in most regions, so those sales were not standalone purchases.
Are any non-Nintendo games in the top 10?
No. Nintendo published all 10, and the Mario, Zelda, and Pokémon franchises account for eight of them between them.
How many Nintendo Switch consoles have been sold?
Nintendo has shipped 155.92 million original Switch units as of March 31, 2026, making it one of the best-selling consoles ever released.
Why do Wii U ports sell so well on Switch?
The Wii U sold only around 13.5 million consoles, so most of its library reached a very small audience. Ports such as Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe reached a userbase more than ten times larger.