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Days after Wii U gem Xenoblade Chronicles X was finally announced for Switch, Nintendo says the JRPG series has seen roughly 500% growth on Switch vs 3DS and Wii U
The Xenoblade Chronicles series has seen a dramatic sales increase on the Nintendo Switch, with the franchise selling over 7 million copies across its Switch entries, eclipsing its performance on the 3DS and Wii U. This surge in popularity is further exemplified by the upcoming release of Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition for the Switch, aiming to bring the standalone Wii U exclusive to a wider audience.
The Wii-born Xenoblade Chronicles JRPG series has passed 7 million copies sold on the Nintendo Switch alone, approximately quintupling its 3DS and Wii U performance.
In a new financial presentation, Nintendo highlights Xenoblade Chronicles as one of several series seeing "dramatic sales growth on Nintendo Switch," joining Kirby, Pikmin, and Metroid. Compared to 1.41 million copies on 3DS and Wii U, Xenoblade Chronicles has collectively sold 7.17 million copies on Switch between Xenoblade Chronicles 2, 3, and Definitive Edition.
The original Wii release of the first game is an obvious missing factor here; while reports are scattered, multiple sources indicate that it sold just under 1 million copies. Oppositely, I'm assuming that Torna – The Golden Country, a prequel story expansion for Xenoblade Chronicles 2 which was actually available standalone, was grandfathered into total Switch sales. Torna is estimated to have sold substantially less despite Xenoblade Chronicles 2 being the best-selling entry in the series at the time of its release.
Unlike Kirby, Pikmin, and Zelda, Xenoblade Chronicles didn't have any games before the Wii, 3DS, and Wii U, so its sales growth seems more significant. (No, Xenosaga doesn't count because it is its own thing.) The fact is, every series performed comparatively poorly on Wii U because the console itself sold terribly and had a small install base. There just weren't that many people to sell to, so of course Switch entries are going to do better.
This definitely didn't help the Wii U's Xenoblade Chronicles X, for example, but the 3DS was a big hit and its Xenoblade Chronicles port didn't do amazingly either. More so than the likes of Kirby or Metroid, which were much better established pre-Switch, the Xenoblade series has come into its own on Nintendo's latest console.
This news comes just a week after the reveal of Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition, a long-awaited Switch remaster of the standalone Wii U-exclusive entry. It's set to launch on March 20, 2025, and its release will not only put the entire Xenoblade series in one convenient place at long last, it could also allow the well-received game to reach an audience that just didn't exist when it first came out.