Half of all Switch owners own Mario Kart 8, Super Mario Odyssey, and Zelda: Breath of the Wild

Reggie Fils-Aime, COO and President of Nintendo of America, has said that half of all Nintendo Switch owners also own a copy of the three biggest games for the console. These games are Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Edition, Super Mario Odyssey, and The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.

In a conversation with IGN Fils-Aime told the press that these three games continue to have an attachment rate of better than 50 percent. Directly he said that more than one in every two Switch players has purchased a copy of Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Edition, Super Mario Odyssey, and The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.

After setting new records for sales over the Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales holidays, Fils-Aime says that Nintendo intend to keep bolstering their lineup of games with titles from beloved series that are core to Nintendo. These games will be accompanied by other big releases from third-party developers to continue to boost the digital offering for the platform.

The key to continuing the momentum the Switch is seeing, Fils-Aime says, is keeping up with these core releases. A number of big titles, such as Metroid Prime 4, and a new Zelda game, are planned for release in 2019. These titles should serve to provide even more forward momentum for the Switch, helping it meet the sales target of 38 million units sold within 2 years of launch.

As of September, around 23 million Nintendo Switch consoles had been sold, leaving very little time for Nintendo to make up the 15 million units they need to meet their target. A strong lineup of core titles is a start, and Fils-Aime believes it will attract new consumers to the platform as well as lapsed Nintendo veterans.

The question is will any of these titles, planned to release in 2019, be big enough to sell as well as the three core titles outlined here. A game that’s big enough for more than 50 percent of Switch owners should attract new users to the platform, but that relies on the game or franchise being popular enough, and the title bringing something new to gaming.