Nintendo Shares Switch Million Sellers, with Super Mario 3D All-Stars at the Top

The CESA (Computer Entertainment Supplier’s Association) 2022 White Book has been published, and various gaming companies in Japan have joined to share their insights into the industry of computer entertainment. Nintendo, a mainstay in the CESA thanks to its long, storied history not only in the Japanese gaming industry but globally as well, shared some numbers about its million sellers as of 2021. In total, 21 games have broken through the million-barrier as of December 31, 2021. It's worth noting that this number has now ballooned to at least 22; Metroid Dread confirmed 2.9 million units sold last May, but since it was released in 2022, it was not part of the list.

Here are Nintendo’s million sellers as of December 31, 2021:

Super Mario 3D All-Stars, the latest 3D Mario game, sits at the very top with 9.07 million units sold in its lifetime, with 750,000 of those sold in 2021. Super Mario Maker 2 sits at number two with 7.89 million units sold, with almost a million coming just last year. Besides these two, there are five more Mario games that made the cut: Mario Tennis Aces (4.28 million lifetime, 620,000 in 2021), Paper Mario: The Origami King (3.34 million lifetime, 290,000 in 2021), Yoshi’s Crafted World (3.01 million lifetime, 450,000 in 2021), Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker (2.13 million lifetime, 360,000 in 2021), and Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit (1.58 million lifetime, 500,000 in 2021).

The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening sits at number three with 6.08 million sold during its lifetime, 750,000 of that figure coming from 2021 alone. A surprising entry with staying power is Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze; despite its age, it managed to sell 700,000 units in 2021 for a total of 4.12 million units sold during its lifetime.

New Nintendo IPs also managed to make the cut. ARMS, one of the Nintendo Switch’s prominent launch titles, sold 100,000 in 2021 for a total of 2.66 million units sold in its lifetime. PlatinumGames’ Astral Chain, while only managed to sell 70,000 units last year, still broke the million mark with 1.28 million units sold in its lifetime.