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Nintendo has revealed that Splatoon 3 has sold over 10 million units up to 31st December 2022. The company shared the result in its latest financial report, which covers the third quarter of the fiscal year ending March 2023.
We knew Splatoon 3 would sell well given that it absolutely smashed sales records when it launched back in September 2022, particularly in Japan, but the game has already sold 10.13 million units. To put that into context, Splatoon 2 reached 10.71 million units in June 2020, almost three years after the game's release, and as of March 2022, the second game has sold 13.30 million units.
We'll almost definitely be seeing some deep cuts, here, and we expect Splatoon 3 will overtake Splatoon 2 by the next quarter. But we'll have to see! There are still plenty of Splatfests in the tank, with one coming up very soon.
Are you surprised by Splatoon 3's sales? Do you think it will overtake Splatoon 2 by the end of the fiscal year? Let us know!
[source nintendo.co.jp]
Comments 25
Pretty impressive to see that 3 should eventually outsell 2 despite that being a launch year title. My only complaint continues to be the pathetic online lobbies but everything else is SUPERFRESH!
@Dev9417 I guess that's not really that surprising when it comes to games with huge focus on online multiplayer. There just isn't really a point to buy Splatoon 2 in e.g. late 2021 because most people have stopped playing at that point and those who still play are probably very good in that game and will destroy you.
Also it most likely would take ages to find a lobby. Guess it just makes more sense to wait for a new one instead of buying the multiple years old one
Great game.
Do we have the breakdown of sales per country?
I wish all Squid Game fans a very special Booyah
@Dezzy70 The closest we have is 'Japan' and 'Overseas', which is 6.3m and 3.8m respectively.
Wow that is very impressive. Hopefully that means Nintendo will support the game for a long time
Very impressive numbers, so happy to see Splatoon's success.
@Olliemar28 That would mean that 5% of people in Japan have bought the game
It's funny, yesterday while walking out of my son's appointment, a kid noticed my Splatoon 3 hoodie and excitedly asked if I really played it. We talked a very little bit about how awesome it is and went about our day. That was the second time a kid asked me about that hoodie. Splatoon 3 seems to be popular with the youth, which is usually a good sign long term.
Anyway, I really like it. It improves on 2 in most ways, even if Splatfests are a bit more uneven in terms of fun (Tricolor is where it shines but that's only half the fest). Well deserved sales!
It will outsell Splatoon 2, but not by the next quarter.
Really happy to see its done so well. Great game. I played online almost exclusively when it came out, then dropped off for a bit. I'm now playing through the single player and can't believe how good it is. I really love how it is chock full of miniature levels that only take a few minutes to complete but they are all really fun. Makes it really easy to drop in and out for a short play sessions. I'm also really enjoying exploring the over world a lot more than previous campaigns. I really don't think the single player gets enough credit, its excellent.
Great to see a newer franchise do so well! I can't wait to see what other new IP ideas Nintendo has cooked up in store
Team Milk Chocolate
This is absolutely impressive, is it's really great to see Nintendo's vision pay off, to focus and invest on something completely new from the ground up, to push for it and now it's a 100% new and fresh first party IP at the same level as Pokemon, Zelda, Mario, etc..
but also, so very much Nintendo, it's like we'll do a "shooter" too, but we'll do it differently from everybody else,
nobody ever though of it, make a shooter where you don't shoot at anyone, you shoot at the floor and walls,
amazing fresh innovative concept, gameplay focused, original, colourful animated, its so much Nintendo and really great to see it being accepted, the game is really fun, and these sales means it's not going anywhere, we got another Mario kart here!
The colours are very beautiful in this picture. Well done Splatoon 3.
That's awesome! It really is a fantastic game. I still play online matches daily.
The only thing that worries me is that it seemed to peak quickly - it's been out of most non-JP charts for a while (from my casual observation, could be wrong). Hopefully it has commercial legs like Splatoon 2 and the Off the Hook DLC reignites sales.
When has a game sequel sold better than the previous one on the same console? That's very rare.
@GX_64 oh from the look of things and the positive feedback from the season updates Nintendo is on a roll in supporting this game for the long term and the competitive side of things is also growing
@conditionals I think the will increase salea
It earned those numbers and the game keeps getting better and better
This tracks with the anecdotal experience I've seen with younger people I know — namely, people I wouldn't expect to even know about Splatoon, are playing it very often.
Originally invented for the Wii U. This is why I don't mind seeing Nintendo get pressured, it has done well under pressure... except the transition to Switch where it polished up a few unfinished, short on content games to get them out the door and move forward.
@GX_64
It currently had a 3 year roadmap, and I don't know that Nintendo has ever shortened a support roadmap, even when a game did poorly and they were losing money on. That was be extremely taboo for Japan, customers have ZERO tolerance for broken promises.
Even better news, in every resent case where a game has exceeded expectations (most notably Splatoon 2 and Animal Crossing) Nintendo chose to extent support. So if the DLC sells and people are still playing, I can see this going full support and content updates for 4 years or so. Maybe even full support until the next game is released.
Definitely deserving of the success. I love the IP to death.
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