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Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is Europe's best-selling boxed game for 2023 so far
Link, you are the hero!
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom has been a sales juggernaut for Nintendo since it launched in May, and the success continues over two months later.
The data on Europe’s physical game sales for the first half of 2023 have come in, and Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom has landed in the #1 spot. That’s incredibly impressive considering its a single-SKU game and it launched 4+ months into the year!
Coming in second place overall is Hogwarts Legacy, which is followed by FIFA 23. The European charts include data from Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Sweden, Switzerland, Spain and the UK, and you can see the top 3 in each country below. (h/t VGC)
It’s not surprising that with this success, Tears of the Kingdom is the fastest-selling game in the history of the series and the fastest-selling Nintendo game for any system in Europe and the Americas.
Survivor: Castaway Island heading to Switch on Oct. 3rd, 2023
Castaways, we are castaways...
Microids is thrilled to announce a new partnership with Banijay Brands for the video game Survivor: Castaway Island, based on the Banijay-owned TV format Survivor.
Unleash your inner survivor and embark for the ultimate adventure! Pick from among 12 fearless adventurers, and join a tribe. Survive in the the untamed wilderness, test your skills in exciting challenges and play the social game of alliance and strategy. In this new adventure game, experience the excitement of Survivor as if you were part of the show!
Survivor – Castaway Island, developed by Magic Pockets, will be available on October 3rd, 2023, on Nintendo Switch.
Following a partnership between Microids and ALP, the producers of Survivor in France (known locally as Koh Lanta), the deal with Banijay Brands builds on the existing game, taking it to global audiences.
In Survivor: Castaway Island, be prepared to experience the ultimate test of survival! As you navigate the treacherous landscape, you’ll need to rely on your survival instinct and strategy to remain in the competition. Every decision you make will be crucial to your fate. Are you cunning, strategic, and ruthless enough to outwit, outplay and outlast your opponents?
During your adventure, look for resources and form alliances with other castaways to survive, but remember that trust is hard to come by in the game of Survivor. Choose your allies wisely and watch your back for betrayals. In team or individual challenges, push yourself to the limit to avoid being voted off the island.
One wrong move, and the adventure ends. Your survival is at stake, and only the strongest will make it to the end. Do you have what it takes to be the last one standing and become the sole Survivor?
Nintendo France and Benelux have now merged with Nintendo of Europe
Two Nintendos make a Super Nintendo, right?
Back in November 2022, Nintendo announced plans for a considerable shift in how they handle their business in Europe. During that initial announcement, Nintendo announced the schedule for these mergers and shifts, and today officially brings us into phase 1.
As of today, Nintendo France and Nintendo Benelux have been absorbed into Nintendo of Europe. Coming over a year later in August 2024, Nintendo Ibérica will join that collective. All of these branches of Nintendo will operate under Nintendo of Europe SE moving forward.
Nintendo says they are making this change to improve business efficiency and accelerate decision-making. NOE’s corporate form will be changed to Nintendo of Europe SE as the new central regional headquarters in Europe.
Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom moves 500k in France alone
Another big win for Link
You might have heard me mention that the UK is PlayStation territory a few times over the years. There’s a similar trope that I trot out from time to time, which is that France is Nintendo territory, and the French just proved that once again.
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom launched worldwide on May 12th, 2023, and that includes France. Turns out the French are still absolutely massive fans of all things Nintendo, and they turned out in a big way to support Link on his latest adventure.
Believe it or not, an absolutely massive 500k physical units were sold in France since launch day. That’s a considerably higher figure than Pokémon Scarlet and Violet achieved at launch, and it also surpasses big-name games like Red Dead Redemption II and the last few FIFA games across all platforms!
This 500k total makes you wonder just how many digital units the French have grabbed as well. Hopefully Nintendo shares some stats soon!
Visual novel 'Dormitory Love' hits Switch April 28th, 2023
Shouldn't you be studying?
PLiCy, one of the major indie game platforms in Japan, is proud to announce the global launch of Dormitory Love (Jap.: Aru-Kannrinin-No-Koi), a successful romance visual novel game, on April 28, 2023, for Nintendo Switch. Pre-order sales will begin on April 20, 2023. To celebrate the release, a special sale of -15% will be offered for a limited time.
Since its release in 2021 as a PC/Browser game, Dormitory Love has gained attention from many Otome game lovers in Japan for its unique love stories of the heroine with foreign students from abroad. It has won PLiCy’s ‘Honorable Game Award’ and was also selected as one of the 100 best games in 2022 on Freem, the biggest indie games platform in Japan.
Although it may appear as a conventional romance game, the story exceeds in its genre through the lively interactions among the residents in the dormitory and their rich background stories. It has thrilling emotional ups and downs, enjoyable seasonal events such as flower viewing, hot spring visits, and summer festivals, which appeal to anybody interested in Japanese culture. The game boasts of a couple of unique features, including being fully voiced and having over a hundred stills.
The game was designed, illustrated, and written by Mirin, a Japanese developer, who dedicated over ten years to the project, creating a universe of people evolving in the world of Dormitory Love. Her life experiences living in Japan, the United States, France and Germany with deep insight into traditional Japanese culture elevated the game with its profound depth in the story.
In the game, the protagonist, Jun Minase, suddenly finds herself working as a manager in a dormitory in Tokyo where students from overseas reside. Players can pursue romance with six different characters: the calm and serious German Felix, the selfish femboy French Guillaume, the star basketball player Josh from the United States, the taciturn Chinese Ling with a mysterious background, the gentle and carefree photographer Russian Sasha, and the cynical British nerd Sean.
From spring to the end of summer, players can enjoy seasonal events such as cherry blossom viewing, hot spring trips, water park visits, and summer festivals with the residents.
Indie developer Pineapple Works previously announced that Dreamed Away, something fans of Studio Ghibli’s Spirited Away and Nintendo’s Earthbound might take interest in, is set to release on Switch in Q4 2023. Ahead of that release, a new trailer has been shared and you can check it out above.
Dreamed Away is an emotional 2D action-adventure RPG that takes place in the country of France during the 1990s. Check out the reveal teaser trailer above, more details on the game below, and visit the Steam page here for a batch of screenshots.
You play as Théo, a boy lost in a dark, mysterious world, trying hard to find his sister. The game focuses on the bond between siblings, fear of death and questioning reality. The immersive storytelling, diverse setting with a vibrant color palette and varied environment, altogether with detailed, aesthetic pixel art, aims to give the player a new perspective on the action-adventure RPG genre.
Dreamed Away is more than just a game. It’s an intense reflection of the developer’s own story,born at the same time as his second child. The game’s world is built around the main character’s - Theo’s - bond with his sister Louise as well as his desire to find and reconnect with her. The story takes place in a cozy little village in Brittany, where the surroundings tell you a story about a safe, calm, and happy place. But mystery steps in. A darkness is encroaching. It’s unsettled, shady. It’s a game about a young boy questioning his sense of reality and sanity. While trapped alone in a world where he constantly faces his fears. Such an experience of internalizing doubts and fears is how the game was born.
France's best-selling games of 2022 revealed
Big representation for Nintendo games
We’re a quarter of the way into 2023, but there’s still some sales data to report from last year. If you’re interested in knowing what closed out last year as the big sellers around the world, we’ve got some new stats you’ll surely want to check out.
Wondering what French gamers clamored for in 2022? Now that the numbers have been crunched, we have the top 20 best-selling games in France for last year. There are plenty of Nintendo titles in the list, which you can read in full below.
- FIFA 23 – 1,755,857
- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II – 791,338
- Pokémon Legends: Arceus – 589,375
- Mario Kart 8 Deluxe – 451,254
- Nintendo Switch Sports – 432,685
- FIFA 22 – 423,702
- Pokémon Violet – 416,537
- Grand Theft Auto V – 400,953
- God of War: Ragnarok – 368,726
- Horizon Forbidden West – 354,402
- Gran Turismo 7 – 353,771
- Elden Ring – 202,597
- Pokémon Scarlet – 300,489
- Mario Strikers: Battle League – 270,772
- Splatoon 3 – 257,309
- Animal Crossing: New Horizons – 256,557
- Minecraft: Nintendo Switch Edition – 252,994
- Mario Party Superstars – 246,328
- Kirby and the Forgotten Land – 218,473
- NBA 2K23 – 171,291
Pokémon Company celebrates another record-breaking year with their 2022 wrap-up
Pretty good for something called a fad 2 decades ago!
The Pokémon Company International announced today that Pokémon celebrated another record-breaking year at retail in 2022, seeing a significant increase in sales across Europe for its Pokémon Trading Card Game (TCG) and toy ranges.
This incredible growth was recognized by NPD, who awarded Pokémon three significant awards at Europe’s largest Toy Fair Spielwarenmesse in Germany. The brand won Global Top Toy Property of the Year, Europe’s Top Gaining Property Total Toys and Europe’s Top Gaining Property Games & Puzzles.
Pokémon maintained its position as the No. 1 property in France, Belgium and the Netherlands, and it achieved its highest-ever annual position in the U.K., Germany and Italy, according to figures recorded by NPD Group.
Pokémon was the No. 1 NPD toy property in France once again, with sales almost double that of the No. 2 brand for a second successive year, achieving 14 percent growth year over year. The best-performing top 15 property, Pokémon also had 14 items in the top 50 toys of the year.
In 2022, Pokémon achieved its highest-ever annual position in Germany, the U.K. and Italy. It was No. 4 in Germany (up from No. 9) with 44 percent growth, was the best-performing top 15 property and featured two products in the year’s top 50 toys by revenue. In the U.K., Pokémon was No. 4 (up from No. 7), and also No. 4 in Italy — its first time in the top 15 there, with the strongest growth among top 15 properties at 101 percent year over year.
Pokémon was again No. 1 in both Belgium and the Netherlands, with four products in the top 50 items for the year in the latter country.
The Pokémon TCG: Scarlet & Violet expansion will launch on 31 March, adopting an updated take on the Pokémon ex gameplay mechanic and introducing Tera Pokémon ex featuring unique etched artwork that spotlights their Tera Types.
Pokémon offers a fantastic and varied toy range for fans, including Jazwares’ hugely popular, award-winning toy line — with highlights including Battle Figures, 8-inch plush and the Clip-’N’-Go Belt Set — and Mattel’s MEGA sets.
The global phenomenon of Pokémon was first launched in Japan in 1996 as a role-playing game for Nintendo’s Game Boy system and reached the United States and Europe in 1998–99. Pokémon has since grown into one of the most popular entertainment properties in the world, encompassing video games, the Pokémon Trading Card Game, mobile games and apps, animation and movies, Play! Pokémon competitive events and licensed products.
It is one of the most successful video game franchises of all time with more than 440 million video games sold worldwide. In addition, more than 22 billion Pokémon TCG cards have been shipped to 77 countries and regions in 13 languages, while the mobile game sensation Pokémon GO has received more than 1 billion downloads globally since launch in 2016. More than 1,000 episodes of the animated TV series span 25 seasons, with the series licensed for broadcast in 177 countries and regions in more than 30 languages.
The Super Mario Bros. movie premiers in China on April 5th, 2023
Just a tad earlier than the states
Here in North America, Nintendo and Illumination will be releasing the Super Mario Bros. animated movie on April 7th, 2023. For Nintendo fans in China, the movie is going to be showing up even sooner.
Universal has announced that the Super Mario Bros. movie is going to see its premiere in China on April 5th, 2023, beating out the timing for much of the world. The only other places we know of that will see the movie release on April 5th are Belgium, France and New Zealand.
Dates for the Super Mario Bros. movie have been shifting almost every week this month, so timing could still change as we inch closer to April. If there’s any other calendar rejiggering, we’ll be sure to let you know.
European software/hardware sales for Jan. 2023
Nintendo snags a few top 10 spots
We’ve already seen a piece of the puzzle with the UK software/hardware sales for January 2023, but today brings us the full picture. The final data on game and hardware sales in Europe for January 2023 have come in, and we’ll kick things off with the top 20 games.
Please remember that this list includes physical and digital sales, but not for Nintendo titles. Nintendo’s entries are based on physical sales only, as Nintendo doesn’t report digital numbers.
All in all, 12.1 million games were sold across Europe last month, which is a drop of 19% over the same period the year before. This drop is largely due to Pokémon Legends: Arceus launching in January 2022, and no other title launched January 2023 that could match those sales.
Next up, we have some details on hardware sales in January 2023. As far as platforms go, 493,000 pieces of hardware were sold across tracked European markets in January 2023. This is a rise of 15.5% over January 2022, and this is almost entirely due to a massive 202% rise in PS5 sales after a major stock boost. Not surprisingly, PS5 was the #1 hardware in terms of units sold, with Switch taking second place (down 11% year-on-year) and Xbox taking third (down 32% year-on-year)
GSD digital data includes games from participating companies sold via Steam, Xbox Live, PlayStation Network, Nintendo Eshop. Major participating companies are Activision Blizzard, Bandai Namco, Capcom, Codemasters, Electronic Arts, Embracer Group (including Gearbox, Koch Media, Sabre Interactive), Focus Entertainment, Konami, Marvellous Games, Microids, Microsoft (including Bethesda), Milestone, Nacon, Paradox Interactive, Quantic Dream, Sega, Sony, Square Enix, Take-Two, Ubisoft and Warner Bros. Nintendo and 505 Games are the notable absentees, alongside smaller studios.
Digital data includes games sold in Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine, and United Kingdom.
Physical data includes all games, but only those sold in Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and United Kingdom.
Console hardware sales cover Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Italy, Portugal, Russia, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland. Accessories sales cover the same markets, but doesn’t include Switzerland.
The Super Mario Bros. movie sees a slight push back in multiple regions
Delay of game...movie
The Super Mario Bros. animated movie from Nintendo and Illumination is just a few months off from release, but it seems Universal is still locking in final release dates. This has resulted in some slight shifts in timing for multiple regions.
No major delays for the film have been revealed, but there are some bumps back by a week or so. Here’s the regions where the dates have changed, along with the new premiere dates.
- UK - April 7th, 2023
- France - April 5th, 2023
- Switzerland - April 5th, 2023
- Belgium - April 5th, 2023
- Australia - April 5th, 2023
- New Zealand - April 5th, 2023
The Switch becomes France's best-selling home console ever
The French know what's up
We’ve said it quite a few times over the years; the French really do love Nintendo. France’s previous best-selling home console was the Wii, but a new platform has swooped in to take that record…and by a considerable amount.
Nintendo has confirmed that the Switch has sold 7.1 million units in France alone. That includes roughly another million units sold in France for 2022, accounting for 50% of all console sales in the region. This puts the Switch ahead of the Wii quite a lot, as that platform ended its run in France with 6.3 million units sold. That makes Switch the best-selling home console ever in France!
The next target for Switch to hit would be best-selling gaming hardware ever. That crown belongs to the DS, which has sold over 10 million units. It doesn’t seem likely that the DS will lose its title, but you never know!
European hardware/software sales for 2022 revealed
The crown goes to Nintendo once again
Earlier in the week, we got a look at how well Nintendo did in the UK for 2022. Today gives us a much bigger picture, thanks to data for all of Europe. Not surprisingly, the Switch and its games came out on top pretty much everywhere.
First up, let’s take a look at the top 20 games across Europe for 2022. Keep in mind this list combines digital and physical sales, but Nintendo doesn’t report digital numbers for their software.
After that, we have the top 10 physical game sales in Europe.
Finally, we have the top 10 digital game sales across Europe in 2022.
As usual, we also have a more specific breakdown on game sales, along with data on hardware sales in general. You can find those bullet points below.
- new game sales increased year-on-year by 16%
- Switch sales were down year-on-year
- 159 million console and PC games were sold across tracked European markets in 2022
- game sales dropped 7.1% over the year before
- 82.5 million games were sold via digital downloads
- 76.6 million games were sold via physical retailers
- If Pokémon Scarlet and Violet sales were combined, the game would be #6
- Pokémon Scarlet/Violet’s sales were 13% bigger year-on-year than Diamond/Pearl
- Pokémon Scarlet/Violet were 8% bigger than Pokémon Sword/Shield
- UK was the No.1 games market across Europe (game sales down 6% year-on-year)
- Germany was the No.2 games market across Europe (game sales down 13%)
- France was the No.3 games market across Europe (game sales down 3%)
- Germany and France were the strongest markets for Nintendo Switch titles
- for tracked territories, 5.3 million consoles were sold last year, a drop of 25%
- Switch was comfortably the No.1 console, despite sales falling by 15% year-over-year
- Switch was No.1 in almost every country, minus Denmark, Sweden, & Norway
- with peripherals (including toys-to-life), sales were down 10% to 18 million
- Switch Joy-Con were the No.3 best-selling peripheral (sales down 23.7%)
Original Super Mario Bros. movie seeing Blu-ray/DVD combo release in France
This ain't no game!
All the talk right now is about the upcoming Super Mario Bros. animated movie from Illumination and Nintendo, but older Nintendo fans never forgot the 1993 live-action adaptation. It was wacky, weird, and pretty off-the-mark, but that didn’t stop it from becoming a cult classic decades later.
Those in France that would love to own a piece of Nintendo history will have a special opportunity to do so. On March 22nd, 2023, a Blu-ray/DVD combo for the live-action Super Mario Bros. movie will see release. Not only does this include the film on two formats, but also a 55-minute documentary that chronicles the movie’s creation.
Those interested in pre-ordering this release can do so through Amazon France for 24,99€. You can take a look at the listing here.
Get a closer look at character art from the Super Mario Bros. animated movie
Charming designs aplenty
The Super Mario Bros. animated movie from Nintendo and Illumination is set to release on April 7th, 2023, and we’ve seen all sorts of promotional materials in the lead-up to the film’s arrival. Today brings us one more collection of images, this time giving us a closer look at the cast.
There’s sure to be some surprises in the Mario movie as far as characters and cameos go, but we already know the principle cast for this feature film. We’ve gotten glimpses at Mario, Princess Peach, Toad, Donkey Kong and others, and now you can give them a fresh once-over in new art.
McDonald’s France has put up a new display in some locations that shows off a collection of character art from the film. This art actually comes from cardboard toys that McDonald’s France is offering in their Happy Meals. You can find a complete gallery of the characters and artwork here.