The Nintendo Switch may have had a lackluster launch lineup outside of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, but the new system received a big boost at the end of last week with the launch of Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. This improved version of the original release on Wii U was bound to sell well and it is doing just that in its debut week in the UK.
According to Games Industry, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe started off very strong this past week in the UK by coming in at #1 on the sales chart. This was followed by fellow newcomer Sniper: Ghost Warrior 3 at #2 and the beast that is Grand Theft Auto V at #3.
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild also jumped back up to #5 with a 68% increase in sales week-on-week, which was no doubt helped by an influx of Nintendo Switch systems alongside the release of Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. In addition, the new Puyo Puyo Tetris came in at #18 on the list for all platforms, though the majority of its sales came on the Switch in the UK in the first week.
What is even more impressive is that Mario Kart 8 Deluxe’s topping of the charts is the first Nintendo game to do this since Pokemon White did so back in 2011. And this was done with only half a week of sales, as the game didn’t launch until late last week as well. Granted, Pokemon Sun and Moon would likely have been on top if they were counted as one game when they released last November, but this is still very impressive.
With the Nintendo Switch selling out and becoming the fastest selling Nintendo system ever, there was little doubt that Mario Kart 8 Deluxe would be a smash hit. If the game is anything like last entries, it’s likely the game will continuing selling as more Switch units become available. Now, it’ll be even more interesting to see how well Mario Kart does in the NPDs, though it coming out at the tail end of the month could hurt those numbers a bit.
