Splatoon 3 is the all-time fastest-selling Nintendo Switch game in Japan

Much to the surprise of nobody keeping score, Splatoon 3 is ridiculously popular.

On Monday, Nintendo announced that Splatoon 3 has already sold more than 3.45 million units in Japan. That staggering number is only from the first three days of sales, too. 

According to Daniel Ahmad, senior analyst at Niko Partners, that seemingly makes Splatoon 3 the fastest-selling title ever in the country’s history.

“What’s notable here is that this isn’t just a record for the Splatoon franchise in Japan – It’s a record for any game launch in Japan,” Ahmad said on Twitter. “In other words, the game sold more in 3 days than Animal Crossing New Horizons for Switch, the previous fastest selling Switch game in Japan, and Pokémon Black & White, the previous fastest selling game of all time in Japan.”

As a frame of reference, it took the original Splatoon several years to reach 4.94 million copies sold. In fairness, it was a Wii U exclusive — the console that only sold 13.5 million units globally. Splatoon 2, which came out on the Nintendo Switch in 2017, has sold 13.30 million copies as of March 2022.

Yes, that means Splatoon 3 will likely have outsold the original soon. It turns out kids plus squids is a winning formula.

Written by Kyle Campbell on behalf of GLHF.