Nintendo’s Biggest Game of the Year Isn’t What You Think It Is

31 Oct at 11:00 Comment Views: 2

It has been a relatively serene period in the Nintendo ecosystem, arriving neatly between the twin heavyweights of the autumn schedule: Nintendo Switch Sports Resort and the highly anticipated remake of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. It feels like an ideal moment to pause, reflect, and perhaps work on perfecting my table tennis backhand.

This phase of the calendar reliably brings a surge of energy as Nintendo’s global marketing teams warm up for a major retail push. This week, Nintendo UK unveiled a heartfelt promotional campaign that seemingly aimed to rival Nintendo Australia’s memorable, emotionally resonant advertisements for Tears of the Kingdom. While it misses the exact same mark, it still managed to capture my attention.

Entitled “Back to Me,” the commercial centers on a disheartened young university student calling home after what appears to be a difficult breakup. His father promptly invites him back for a comforting family dinner, naturally prompting him to fire up Ocarina of Time on his train journey. Given the context, one might expect a family round of Switch Sports Resort to follow; instead, he and his sister craft a Mii of their dad within Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream. He returns to campus visibly uplifted, continuing to bond with his sister over the game via GameChat.

Here is the curious part: Tomodachi Life originally launched in April for the standard Nintendo Switch and does not even feature a dedicated Switch 2 enhancement patch. If Nintendo UK wanted to spotlight a title boasting widespread casual appeal, built-in GameChat functionality, and familial avatars, Resort was sitting right there. So, what gives?

The answer arrived in my inbox courtesy of a striking data update from games industry analytics firm Newzoo. According to their September reports, Tomodachi Life stands as the third-highest-grossing new release of 2026 so far—spanning January through September—across six major Western markets, including the US, UK, France, Germany, Italy, and Spain.

Across these territories, Tomodachi Life has comfortably outearned heavy hitters like Resident Evil Requiem, Pokémon Pokopia, Crimson Desert, and Forza Horizon 6. In fact, it held the very top spot just a month prior, only slipping to third following the arrival of September’s heavy-hitting sports franchises. Back in August, Nintendo reported that the title had already surpassed an astonishing 8 million copies sold by the end of June.

Ultimately, it makes perfect sense. Tomodachi Life functions as arguably the biggest release this year for the original Switch—the second best-selling console in history—which continues to command a vastly larger installed user base than the Switch 2. Furthermore, its inherent viral nature has driven immense organic momentum through countless hilarious social media clips. Add in its widespread appeal among women and girls, and you begin to understand why its monumental success is so often overlooked by traditional metrics.

Nintendo UK’s advertisement brilliantly leverages the massive popularity of Tomodachi Life to reinforce a crucial hardware message: your library carries forward seamlessly to the Switch 2. Yet, it simultaneously highlights a timeless truth that has fueled Nintendo’s success for the past two decades—massive cultural hits do not always look or behave the way industry traditionalists expect.

eShop game of the week: Titanium Court

As the proud recipient of this year’s IGF Seumas McNally Grand Prize, Titanium Court presents an unclassifiable fusion of mechanical concepts, seamlessly blending traditional puzzle mechanics with kingdom management. It actively delights in confounding expectations at every turn while remaining brilliantly sharp-witted and self-aware.

All the world’s a stage and Titanium Court is its proud jester

Nintendo Classics game of the week: Super Ghouls ‘n Ghosts

Get into the Halloween spirit with Capcom’s notoriously punishing action platformer. Nintendo Classics allows players to choose between the original Genesis arcade port of Ghouls ‘n Ghosts or the SNES reimagining, Super Ghouls ‘n Ghosts—a debate regarding their respective merits that has raged among enthusiasts since the early 1990s.

Nintendo Music track of the week: “Bonneton” from Super Mario Odyssey

Keeping with the autumnal, slightly spooky atmosphere, this gorgeous orchestral piece from Super Mario Odyssey showcases Koji Kondo and his collaborators channeling a distinct Danny Elfman scoring a Tim Burton feature aesthetic.

Super Mario Odyssey remains undefeated when it comes to reinventing the collect-a-thon formula