December 2018 NPD Results: Switch highest selling console of 2018 by units and revenue, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate top selling game of December

[VariantX]

Wow, the PS1 Classic must've flopped hardcore. A deserved flop for how much Sony fucked up with it, but daaaaaaaamn.

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Any sales the PS Classic gets are a blessing because frankly, its the best idea executed in nearly the worst possible fashion. It's one thing to take on the flaws shared by Nintendo's retro console, but Sony gave it all sorts of extra ones from poor software selection to terrible emulation of some titles.

 

[Sammy Samusu]

 

[Papacheeks]

I think everything will depend of the Switch revision. Something Nintendo had been great over the years is managing to move their handheld owners to the mid gen refresh/upgrade/revision. The amount of people who had a GBA and move to the GBA SP or had a DS and move to the DSlite is staggering. That's something Sony and Microsoft weren't able to do with the Pro and X.

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I would argue that would be because PS4/XBOX's revisoins weren't to fix issues with the console or add features that were missing.

 

[cucholix]

I was happy until I learnt it was doomed u___u

 

[khamakazee]

Any sales the PS Classic gets are a blessing because frankly, its the best idea executed in nearly the worst possible fashion. It's one thing to take on the flaws shared by Nintendo's retro console, but Sony gave it all sorts of extra ones from poor software selection to terrible emulation of some titles.

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I haven't read through the entire thread but has Sony revealed how many of those PS1 classic systems it sold? I think one of major issues here is Sony was not really known as a major 1st party developer during that era like Nintendo was for the NES.

 

[ccieag]

I remember visiting my daughter at college last year, and being surprised to see an older Wii with Smash Brothers. They had an XB1 and PS4 on the stand, but the only game I actually saw played was Smash. Asked my daughter about it, and she said it was on the TV all the time. I guess Nintendo fans if anything are extremely loyal. Nostalgia to be honest is what has probably kept Nintendo alive as others like Sega and Atari have faltered. They make excellent games

I mean, all I play are Nintendo Switch and emulator games on my laptop these days - the PS4 is a movie player 90% of the time. At least for me, and sales seem to agree, the PS1 doesn't come close to the nostalgia of NES or SNES, and the games don't hold up well at all in the original format. Early polygon games were just plain ugly in retrospect. I like and play many of the PS1 games, but they are a tremendously better experience on emulator where resolutions and textures can be bumped and such.

 

[borghe]

Because people are attached to PS brand. So yeah, nostalgia is a thing.

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No, because Feb 2013 happened. Even with XBONE having more complicated hardware to code for initially..... unquestionably 2012 and 2013 it looked like this gen would repeat. MS is US and UK, Sony everywhere else.. and the TV TV TV SPORTS SPORTS SPORTS TV TV TV oh and here is the owners manual on how to share games. $500. Good night folks!

It had nothing to do with nostalgia and everything to do with MS shitting the bed prior to e3. Prior to Switch this gen was on track to have lower console sales overall across all systems. Great news for Sony... but clearly MS' messaging had an impact immediately and sent US and UK buyers to Sony.. not nostalgia. Switch (and PS4) is the only reason this gen will even come close to last gen. If Switch performed terribly, this gen would have seen overall lower console sales. Nostalgia isn't shit

Edit - obviously MS somewhat recovered.. that's not to say XBONE sold terribly. But yeah citing the success of PS4 to nostalgia is insane. There is a LOT there to why and how this gen played out and none of it (including Nintendo aside from the mini consoles) has anything to do with nostalgia.

 

[Deleted member 2791]

i'm pretty sure that even in 2021 you'll still have some diehards talking about microsoft's e3 2013 and how it was a betrayal of Gamers™

 

[RedDevil]

My takeaway from this is Only Four Boards PartySuper Mario Party selling better than Pokémon Let's Go Pikachu which was the best selling of the two Let's Go games.

1. People buy Nintendo hardware overwhelmingly for Nintendo software
2. Outside of Fortnite and a couple sports games, none of 2018's big third party titles were on Switch

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You better not be shitting on Mega Man 11, you better not!

Yeah I know Mega Man isn't considered a big third party title nowadays.

 

[Deleted member 49804]

i'm pretty sure that even in 2021 you'll still have some diehards talking about microsoft's e3 2013 and how it was a betrayal of Gamers™

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More like 2031 when console are obsolete already and Playstation and Xbox are both a universal hybrid clould / edge platform.

 

[Deleted member 35598]

I would argue that would be because PS4/XBOX's revisoins weren't to fix issues with the console or add features that were missing.

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That's not fair. Not all DS revisions were to adress product limitations. The DSI was in every sense a Pro system before the Pro for example.

Besides the Pro and X addressed limitations of the PS4 and Xbox One in resolution and framerate. Even if those systems brought 4k to the table ; the intent was also to keep the "old" promise of 1080p/60fps gaming. A promise that has NOT been met by the original PS4 and Xbox One very often ( to say the least ).

 

[Papacheeks]

That's not fair. Not all DS revisions were to adress product limitations. The DSI was in every sense a Pro system before the Pro for example.

Besides the Pro and X adresses limitations of the PS4 and Xbox One in resolution and Framerate. Even if those system bring 4k to the table ; the intent was also to keep the promise of the 1080p/60fps gaming, something that has NOT been met by the original PS4 and Xbox One often.

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Let's not kid ourselves here. We are talking mainly Switch. ANd it totally is fair in that regard. The switch was missing basic functions that come with most cheap devices.

Ethernet port, bluetooth, for consoles party chat among others.

This revision will probably support a headset better, have some form of bluetooth. ANd I hope to god they make a revision of the dock with a ethernet port.

But yea, if we are talking switch which I am, the revision will mostly be to fix issues, and get price down.

 

[khamakazee]

That's not fair. Not all DS revisions were to adress product limitations. The DSI was in every sense a Pro system before the Pro for example.

Besides the Pro and X addressed limitations of the PS4 and Xbox One in resolution and framerate. Even if those systems brought 4k to the table ; the intent was also to keep the "old" promise of 1080p/60fps gaming. A promise that has NOT been met by the original PS4 and Xbox One very often ( to say the least ).

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The best way to compare would be if there are exclusives that take advantage of the newest hardware revisions. If so then it is nothing like the Pro and X.

More like 2031 when console are obsolete already and Playstation and Xbox are both a universal hybrid clould / edge platform.

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Yup, there are some diehards that simply will never move on and use any excuse they can not to support Microsoft.

 

[Deleted member 35598]

Let's not kid ourselves here. We are talking mainly Switch. ANd it totally is fair in that regard. The switch was missing basic functions that come with most cheap devices.

Ethernet port, bluetooth, for consoles party chat among others.

This revision will probably support a headset better, have some form of bluetooth. ANd I hope to god they make a revision of the dock with a ethernet port.

But yea, if we are talking switch which I am, the revision will mostly be to fix issues, and get price down.

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That's the question here.

If the idea is the go the DSI or Pro direction. That's a move that will please the core gamers but that won't encourage current Switch owners to make the upgrade

Or is it the DS lite, GBA SP, PS3 slim strategy ? This will definitely help current Switch owners upgrade their console. However, not sure the core gamers wiuld like the move.

I hope we can get the best of both worlds.

 

[Pariah]

Really impressive performance from Nintendo. I was confident that Smash would prove to be a phenomenon on a bigger scale than any previous Switch release. For all the talk about 2018 and what was missing in comparison to its release year, Switch did have a couple of incredibly strong offerings, with Smash all by itself compensating any absence. More than 3 million units in a month is only possible for very few licenses.

On the 20 mil. goal for the system, I think whether it happens or not, it's going to be very telling of where Nintendo still have significant growth to do. I've been following the Japanese numbers and to think PS4 went beyond that mark with a performance so anemic in its local region, it certainly was an incredible feat. Nintendo have a dominating position in Japan with Switch like at Sony haven't experienced since the PS2 days. Unless there's a heavy reliance for the Big N on certain markets (and within those, specific periods as Christmas holidays), I'd be surprised if their stronghold on Japan and America proves insufficient to reach their high objectives.

 

[Simba1]

Are there impressions of how much money Switch is making alone vs Wii and DS combined? It was my biggest concern after it was revealed Switch was a hybrid. Switch could be performing extremely well but not enough to replace a 2nd hardware platform.

I suppose 3DS still sells but I can't imagine them being anywhere DS in its respective decline.

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No one we will ever again make so much money like Nintendo was made that gen, dont forget,
Nintendo that gen sold more than 255m units of hardware and almost 2 billions units of software, no way something like that can be repeat even close.

But Nintendo with Switch can easily make more money than they did any other their generation combined (so more than Wii U+3DS, GC+GBA...).

 

[Skittzo]

No one we will ever again make so much money like Nintendo was made that gen, dont forget,
Nintendo that gen sold more than 255m units of hardware and almost 2 billions units of software, no way something like that can be repeat even close.

But Nintendo with Switch can easily make more money than they did any other their generation combined (so more than Wii U+3DS, GC+GBA...).

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What they're missing in terms of hardware revenue might be made up for with subscription revenue, mobile game revenue and digital game sales. They also have lowered R&D and development costs since they're focusing on only a single hardware platform, which will make a big impact when it comes to net profit. I could see them getting to Wii/DS era profits again, actually as soon as this year.

We'll see what their Q3 financials look like but they should be quite good.

 

[borghe]

What they're missing in terms of hardware revenue might be made up for with subscription revenue, mobile game revenue and digital game sales. They also have lowered R&D and development costs since they're focusing on only a single hardware platform, which will make a big impact when it comes to net profit. I could see them getting to Wii/DS era profits again, actually as soon as this year.

We'll see what their Q3 financials look like but they should be quite good.

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they will definitely make up in mobile gaming. FEH and Pokemon Go are bringing in insane money.. Dragalia Lost is pretty high up (relatively speaking) on the iOS revenue charts. Super Mario Run was a pay2play success overall IIRC (obviously sales have slowed).. Pokemon Quest is really their only miss (maybe Animal Crossing?)

So yeah overall they'll have lower console sales.. but it's not looking like their software revenue (including mobile) will really be affected by that.. plus whatever they get from online fees.

 

[Deleted member 4346]

Impressive Switch numbers. PS 5 keeps trucking.

But is anyone else kind of shocked Xbox hardware is up YoY? Game Pass must be working because I really don't see another reason, and I say that as a diehard Xbox fan.

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I wonder what the split is of Xbox One X to S is for 2018? I feel like the X is pretty much perfect for the kind of gamers that would buy an Xbox and I wonder how that refresh has driven YoY hardware sales for Microsoft? Personally I'm super high on the console, it's an amazing piece of kit overall.

 

[Raguy]

MatPiscatella when you have a moment (and if you're willing), would it be possible to get a list of the top 10/20 3rd party Switch games for the year? I feel like we always see top 10 Switch, but we are lucky if we get to see 1 or 2 3rd parties listed.

Thanks for all your hard work. You've clearly been busy.

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Theses games performed well.
Minecraft, Octopath ( but it's a nintendo published game ) , Crash bandicoot, Mario rabbid, Just dance 2019, Starlink ( discount price everywhere ), Diablo 3...

About third-party japanese, i'm curious to know number of DBZ fighter ( switch version ) , mega man 11 ( switch version ) and MH XX.

 

[Skittzo]

they will definitely make up in mobile gaming. FEH and Pokemon Go are bringing in insane money.. Dragalia Lost is pretty high up (relatively speaking) on the iOS revenue charts. Super Mario Run was a pay2play success overall IIRC (obviously sales have slowed).. Pokemon Quest is really their only miss (maybe Animal Crossing?)

So yeah overall they'll have lower console sales.. but it's not looking like their software revenue (including mobile) will really be affected by that.. plus whatever they get from online fees.

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Yeah I can see software revenue, especially with the growth of digital, being a good deal higher than in the Wii/DS era for both platforms combined. It's really just the hardware sales numbers that will be dropping and those don't have amazing margins to begin with.

I think FY 2019 will have net profits in the Wii/DS range or possibly higher.

 

[Dekuman]

With the success of the classic consoles, I want them to make a $150 portable virtual console console with preloaded NES and SNES games using the same low cost SoC. There would be a market for it.

 

[borghe]

With the success of the classic consoles, I want them to make a $150 portable virtual console console with preloaded NES and SNES games using the same low cost SoC. There would be a market for it.

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It's $300... but this is literally Switch with an Online sub. 😜 You can play NES (and eventually SNES) offline.

 

[Dekuman]

It's $300... but this is literally Switch with an Online sub. 😜 You can play NES (and eventually SNES) offline.

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You're right :<

 

[Mbolibombo]

Could anyone share the NPD estimates from March-May '17 ?

I managed to delete them from my documentation and they are forever lost :P

 

[Slam Tilt]

I can't think of any publisher ignoring the system other than EA to be honest.

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EA shareholders can add this to the list of screwups that are dragging the company through the mud.

Smash sold more then Spider Man? How is that possible?

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80+ heroes > 1 hero.

They don't care because they are crap at it. Just look at PS All-Stars. They're all about making "mature" games but at the same time farted out a mascot fighter.

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Beat me to it. As others have noted, Sony has always marketed the PlayStation as bleeding-edge tech, and appeals to nostalgia run contrary to that. It's rather telling that the most recognizable PS mascots are third party characters, while Sony's own are either abandoned (Sackboy) or laughingstocks (Knack).

Tbh I know very few people who buy Nintendo console for anything but Nintendo titles. I won't own a single third party game on the switch either.

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I think that says more about you than it does about Switch owners.

 

[Entryhazard]

I would argue that would be because PS4/XBOX's revisions weren't to fix issues with the console or add features that were missing.

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Interesting story but ultimately not true.

• The clamshell design, frontlight and internal custom battery with charger definitely were not standard features for the handhelds of the time, the GBA SP was a gamechanger in its own right rather than coming out to patch the regular GBA's shortcomings. On top of that ironically the GBA SP had a missing feature to the regular GBA by eschewing the standard audio jack.
• Beside a stronger backlight, the DS Lite virtually had no additional feature from the regular DS. The real difference is that it was as not as ugly, which probably helped marketing it. The fact that it was otherwise identical also helped by having it supplant the regular DS as the base model that was immediately discontinued for all intents and purposes. Most of the success of the DS Lite was because it came out concurrently at the release of the games that ushered the craze of the Touch Generation and the Gen 4 Pokémon games. Then again it wasn't because of any objective deficiency of the base DS model, unless having an arguably ugly look counts.

 

[Papacheeks]

Interesting story but ultimately not true.

• The clamshell design, frontlight and internal custom battery with charger definitely were not standard features for the handhelds of the time, the GBA SP was a gamechanger in its own right rather than coming out to patch the regular GBA's shortcomings. On top of that ironically the GBA SP had a missing feature to the regular GBA by eschewing the standard audio jack.
• Beside a stronger backlight, the DS Lite virtually had no additional feature from the regular DS. The real difference is that it was as not as ugly, which probably helped marketing it. The fact that it was otherwise identical also helped by having it supplant the regular DS as the base model that was immediately discontinued for all intents and purposes. Most of the success of the DS Lite was because it came out concurrently at the release of the games that ushered the craze of the Touch Generation and the Gen 4 Pokémon games. Then again it wasn't because of any objective deficiency of the base DS model, unless having an arguably ugly look counts.

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I'm talking specifically Switch. In regards to someone's comments about PS4/XBOX revisions.

 

[fiendcode]

How do you think it was outselling the competition launch aligned and managed to do +80 million despite the shitshow of a launch?

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Europe. It bombed in Japan and was always way behind in America.

 

[Skittzo]

I'm talking specifically Switch. In regards to someone's comments about PS4/XBOX revisions.

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What do you expect the Switch revision(s) to fix/add?

 

[hussien-11]

I disagree. Let's not forget we're talking about the same wallet here. It's not like every gamer has 300$ + 400$ for a next gen system. That's not how it works. The Switch is still a very young system.

Of course Next Gen systems introduction will impact the Switch. The question is to what extent.

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Hardware is costing more and more to manufacture and looking at Xbox One X I think 500$ is realistic.

still, they are distinct enough products that cover different needs. yes consumers will have to make a choice but for those who want or prefer to play on the go, there is really no other option.

 

[KORNdog]

EA shareholders can add this to the list of screwups that are dragging the company through the mud.

80+ heroes > 1 hero.

Beat me to it. As others have noted, Sony has always marketed the PlayStation as bleeding-edge tech, and appeals to nostalgia run contrary to that. It's rather telling that the most recognizable PS mascots are third party characters, while Sony's own are either abandoned (Sackboy) or laughingstocks (Knack).

I think that says more about you than it does about Switch owners.

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That I own several platforms that can play multiplatform titles better than the switch can? Yeah, I guess you're right!

 

[Papacheeks]

What do you expect the Switch revision(s) to fix/add?

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A lot. I hope we get bluetooth, I hope we get party chat which is OS related, I hope we get a damn ethernet port in the dock, and a better wifi card.

Different position for charging port would be great for when in stand mode.

 

[SuperFakerBros]

That I own several platforms that can play multiplatform titles better than the switch can? Yeah, I guess you're right!

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No, his point that plenty have bought the Switch for more than just Nintendo games. Overall non-Nintendo software is doing well on the system, which indicates that to be the case

 

[srtrestre]

It's rather telling that the most recognizable PS mascots are third party characters, while Sony's own are either abandoned (Sackboy) or laughingstocks (Knack).

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How about this guy

 

[SuperFakerBros]

A lot. I hope we get bluetooth, I hope we get party chat which is OS related, I hope we get a damn ethernet port in the dock, and a better wifi card.

Different position for charging port would be great for when in stand mode.

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Aside from a potentially better WiFi card, which the other systems also received from their revisions, you're not going to get any of that. Party chat has nothing to do with hardware and I'm pretty sure the Switch uses Bluetooth for controllers, it just doesn't extend beyond them. The revision for the Switch will be more so to fix and improve minor things than anything drastic as it doesn't have drastic issues for the vast majority of people

 

[Deleted member 1413]

That I own several platforms that can play multiplatform titles better than the switch can? Yeah, I guess you're right!

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A lot of indie games play the same on switch.
People prefer it on there for a reason

 

[Deadpixel1229]

How about this guy

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wtf is that?

 

[SuperFakerBros]

Beat me to it. As others have noted, Sony has always marketed the PlayStation as bleeding-edge tech, and appeals to nostalgia run contrary to that. It's rather telling that the most recognizable PS mascots are third party characters, while Sony's own are either abandoned (Sackboy) or laughingstocks (Knack).

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There are plenty of recognizable PS characters, even from the last generation. PSABR was just a poorly handled game overall. It doesn't reflect the rest of Sony's output

 

[Calamari41]

MatPiscatella If you would be so kind, whereabouts would Pokemon Let's Go end up in the December rankings if both SKUs were combined?

If that extra spot were freed up, what game would enter the Switch's top ten for the year?

Thanks in advance for any insight you can give!

 

[srtrestre]

wtf is that?

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Taken-out-into-the-car-park-and-quietly-shot Man.

 

[Waters]

MS keek saying that gamepass didn´t affect sales... but i see no MS game on the top 20 on the US, where it still has a strong market... i honestly expected to see FH4 there at least... is it normal for this franchise to be absent from a top 20 list?

Is gamepass really not hurting sales?

 

[TooBusyLookinGud]

MS keek saying that gamepass didn´t affect sales... but i see no MS game on the top 20 on the US, where it still has a strong market... i honestly expected to see FH4 there at least... is it normal for this franchise to be absent from a top 20 list?

Is gamepass really not hurting sales?

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I think it's doing exactly what MS wanted it to do; sell some copies and sell a lot DLC.

Obviously I don't have access to internal numbers, but I'm thinking that this is their gameplay. They have stated that they are not concerned with sales numbers anymore IIRC.

 

[Slam Tilt]

wtf is that?

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Knack's grandpa.

There are plenty of recognizable PS characters, even from the last generation.

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I think that's a discussion for a separate thread.

 

[Zedark]

That I own several platforms that can play multiplatform titles better than the switch can? Yeah, I guess you're right!

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More that you don't see portability as a significant feature. Considering most comments on third party performance from publishers and sales insiders have been positive, I don't think it's fair to say that there aren't good amounts of people who want to play third parties on Switch.

 

[Skittzo]

A lot. I hope we get bluetooth, I hope we get party chat which is OS related, I hope we get a damn ethernet port in the dock, and a better wifi card.

Different position for charging port would be great for when in stand mode.

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It already has bluetooth, the lack of audio bluetooth is for licensing reasons. Nintendo could offer it as a firmware update I think if they were to pay for a particular license. Party chat is not happening outside of the app. I don't see a revised dock actually happening so it won't have an ethernet port, and the wifi cards already seem to vary unit to unit. That's not something that a revision is necessary for. Charging port will not be changed.

I guess we'll see what they do, but I don't really think any of what you listed is happening. However even if they were, 3/5 things you listed can be done for the OG Switch too and don't require a revision.

 

[Deleted member 2785]

MatPiscatella If you would be so kind, whereabouts would Pokemon Let's Go end up in the December rankings if both SKUs were combined?

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4

If that extra spot were freed up, what game would enter the Switch's top ten for the year?

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DKTF

 

[ShinobiBk]

they will definitely make up in mobile gaming. FEH and Pokemon Go are bringing in insane money.. Dragalia Lost is pretty high up (relatively speaking) on the iOS revenue charts. Super Mario Run was a pay2play success overall IIRC (obviously sales have slowed).. Pokemon Quest is really their only miss (maybe Animal Crossing?)

So yeah overall they'll have lower console sales.. but it's not looking like their software revenue (including mobile) will really be affected by that.. plus whatever they get from online fees.

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Super Mario Run was a colossal failure compared to their expectations. At the same time, it was an experiment they needed to try (one time payment vs. microtransactions) to find out what the market was.

So far in terms of mobile success they're really 2/5. Miitomo died such a swift death that nobody even remembers it, Mario Run was way, way below expectation and has no legs, Fire Emblem Heroes is a massive success, Pocket Camp flopped hard and Dragalia Lost is very successful although not on the level of Heroes, which is fine FEH is a high bar
I don't count the Pokemon game cause they have a fairly small stake in them from what I understand
Edit - I guess since they publish Quest that counts. Yeah nobody cares about that game

 

[trugs26]

Amazing stuff. I'm looking forward to seeing their forcast results for that 20 mil units sold in a year.

Sucks that those Let's Go ranks are split. I would like to see their real ranking, with their sales combined.

Edit: saw in the comments. It's 4. Should be in there by default though. More useful that way.

 

[Cantaim]

4



DKTF

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Awww yeah DK got a little love!