Shigeru Miyamoto comments on whether a different Nintendo game could outsell Mario Kart on Switch 2

Could a game other than Mario Kart take the crown as the best-selling game on a Nintendo platform? Shigeru Miyamoto, the creator of Mario and The Legend of Zelda, has weighed in.

On Nintendo Switch, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is by far the best seller at almost 70 million – Animal Crossing: New Horizons is the next closest at nearly 50 million. It now looks like we could see something similar with Mario Kart World as it has sold over 9.5 million copies with Nintendo Switch 2 itself at an install base of just over 10 million.

During Nintendo’s investor Q&A today, when asked if a new Nintendo Switch 2 game could outsell Mario Kart, Miyamoto said:

“At Nintendo, we always approach our work with the belief that there are no limits. For example, when we attempted film with The Super Mario Bros. Movie, it was compared to the box office receipts of other films. However, even if we were to reach number one on that list, I believe there is always something even better. My recent theme is that the entertainment world has no limit. In that sense, there is still a vast market around the world that can be expanded through the Switch. If some of Nintendo’s IP or systems are widely accepted by consumers as something ‘never before seen,’ there is a possibility that we could achieve numbers that go beyond the boundaries of entertainment. I think the exciting thing about Nintendo is that we are open to taking on any challenge. However, even if that situation were to occur, Mario Kart would likely continue to sell even more in that arena, so it may never be surpassed.

A long time ago, before creating the first Pokémon software, Tajiri, the director of Pokémon, joked with me that ‘if you want to surpass Nintendo’s Mario, you’ll have to sell two copies of the software to each customer.’ That was one of the reasons Pokemon Red and Green were created. I believe that it is precisely because there are people like this who are determined to ‘surpass them somehow’ that new things are born.”

In case you missed it, we have the latest list of million sellers on Nintendo Switch 2 and Switch here.