Mario Kart World is outselling Switch 1 launch title Zelda: Breath of the Wild by over 4x in Japan, Switch 2 physical launch estimates show
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With the Switch 2 quickly selling 3.5 million units and becoming Nintendo's fastest-selling hardware, perhaps it's no surprise that its big launch title Mario Kart World has also got off to a flying start, but it's seemingly demolished the physical releases of Switch 1 launch title Zelda: Breath of the Wild and its direct predecessor Mario Kart 8 Deluxe in Japan.
In a new report (which we've machine translated), Japanese outlet Famitsu estimates that Mario Kart World sold 782,566 physical retail copies in Japan alone in its first three days. This figure includes copies of the game included in Switch 2 bundles, it should be noted.
As highlighted by user Stealth40K on Bluesky, this is even more impressive when you consider The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe's launch sales. Breath of the Wild might have simultaneously released on Nintendo's most underrated console (RIP, Wii U), but really, it was the big launch title for the Switch.
Back in 2017, Famitsu reported that in its first three days, the Switch version of Breath of the Wild was estimated to have sold 193,060 physical, retail copies in Japan. That's four times less than Mario Kart World's estimated sales.
Meanwhile, Forbes reported data from Media Create, claiming that Mario Kart 8 Deluxe managed to sell 284,823 copies in Japan in the two days before chart figures were released. Forbes later stated the game had sold 375,475 copies by May 7 (nine days after launch).
This was massive, obviously – Mario Kart 8 Deluxe was an expanded Wii U port, so it wasn't even an all-new release. However, it's still not come close to the launch performance of Mario Kart World, apparently.
Worldwide, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is still Nintendo's best-selling Switch game at over 68.2 million sales (as of the end of March). We'll just have to see if its successor can surpass it.
Mario Kart World repeats Mario Kart 8's most annoying problem as Nintendo's seemingly hiding all-important stats for characters and vehicles
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