Super Mario 3D World Tops Sales Charts For The First Time On Switch

Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury has rocketed to the top of February's sales charts after failing to chart in its original Wii U release


Published: March 12, 2021 11:24 AM /

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Giant Cat Mario in Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury, which has topped February sales charts

Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury has debuted at the top of February's US sales charts. This will come as pleasing news to Nintendo after the original release of the game failed to chart on the Wii U in 2013.

Why has Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury sold so well?

This news comes via NPD industry analyst Mat Piscatella. In Piscatella's monthly analytics thread, he pointed up the success of 3D World + Bowser's Fury, also noting that it has already become the second best-selling game of 2021. This is despite the lack of digital sales figures for Nintendo-published games, so even when only factoring in the physical release, that's a pretty impressive feat for Nintendo's 3D platformer. It beat out competition from Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold WarPersona 5 Strikers, and Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales to take the top spot.

Mario swims away from Giant Bowser in Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury
Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury has debuted at the top of February's gaming software sales charts.

It's been a strong month for the Nintendo Switch overall. Piscatella notes that the Switch was the best-selling system in February, enjoying the highest unit and dollar sales of any hardware platform in February since the Wii in 2009. In addition, February saw total Switch hardware sales overtake those of the Nintendo DS, which makes the Switch Nintendo's second best selling platform in the US. No prizes for guessing which one it still needs to overtake.

What else does the NPD analysis tell us about the gaming industry?

Of course, it's still been a great month for the PlayStation 5, which continues to be both phenomenally successful and incredibly difficult to obtain. Piscatella says the PS5 was the second best-selling hardware system in February 2021 and is still the fastest-selling system in US history. Of course, some of that may be down to lightning-quick bots scalping consoles online, but there's no doubt that the incredible demand for the PS5 continues. Total hardware sales increased 121% on the same period last year, with February 2021 representing the highest hardware sales total for a February since 2011.

Piscatella's full thread is well worth checking out if you're a numbers nerd and want to see how the industry is faring so far. It contains some fun tidbits like the highest-selling accessory of February (hint: it's a PS5 peripheral, of course), as well as top ten software sales for each individual platform. Total gaming spending is 35% higher than it was last year, with year-to-date spending 39% higher, so it doesn't look like the gaming industry is slowing down anytime soon.

What do you think of Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury topping the charts? Let us know in the comments below!

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More Info About This Game
Learn more about Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury
Developer
Nintendo
Publisher
Nintendo
Platforms
Nintendo Switch, Wii U
Release Date
February 12, 2021 (Calendar)
Genre
Platformer
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