Super Smash Bros. Ultimate was going to be a success just based on its name, but the combination of incredible gameplay, a massive roster, and being on the ultra-popular Nintendo Switch have pushed it to become the best-selling fighting game ever.
After countless re-releases and a legacy spanning more than two decades, Street Fighter II has been dethroned by Smash Ultimate, which the juggernaut by selling 15.71 million units in less than a year.
Street Fighter II was king for many years, sitting at 15.5 million units after putting out seven unique versions of the same game since the original release in 1991. The fact that Smash Ultimate surpassed arguably the most iconic and successful fighting game of all-time this quickly is insane.
Smash Ultimate is now the second best-selling game on the Switch, only sitting behind Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, which has sold 19.01 million units, according to the Nintendo’s earnings report. That means it outsold major titles like Super Mario Odyssey and The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and broke the 15 million mark before the game’s first anniversary.
Related: Nintendo Switch has sold more than 41 million units worldwide, including first wave of Switch Lite
Historically, fighting games aren’t titles that sell well in the short term, but the Super Smash Bros. series is usually an exception to that, especially in recent years. Smash Ultimate beat out Smash for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U (14.85 million units) to become the best-selling game in the franchise, and it will likely break 20 million by this time next year.
It should be noted that some of the Street Fighter II sales numbers are not being included, based on the SNES Classic version and arcade cabinets not counting as individual units. But this is an incredible accomplishment for Nintendo and the Smash series as its biggest installment continues to bring in massive returns.
