Switch remaster of Xenoblade Chronicles doubled the UK launch sales of the Wii original

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The UK launch sales for Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition (opens in new tab) on the Nintendo Switch doubled the sales of the Wii original.

As Games Industry (opens in new tab) reports, the Definitive Edition of the game – which I keep wanting to call the Definition Edition for no good reason – also topped the UK sales charts in its release week, finally pushing Animal Crossing: New Horizons into second place after three weeks at the top. Note that this data only covers physical sales, not digital downloads. 

Xenoblade Chronicles was originally released on the Wii in August 2011, so season-wise, the launch period for the new Definitive Edition is fairly comparable. Xenoblade Chronicles 2, originally released for the Switch in December 2017, is another useful comparison. The Definitive Edition has fallen just short of the second game’s launch sales, which can largely be attributed to the holiday rush. 

Several factors likely contributed to the higher launch sales of the Definitive Edition. Lifetime Nintendo Switch sales are now just over half those of the Wii, but the Switch audience is more accustomed to – and hungrier for – hardcore JRPGs like Xenoblade. The Xenoblade series is also more established nowadays, having seen one game on the Wii, one on the Wii U, and now two (not counting Torna – The Golden Country) on the Switch. The ongoing coronavirus pandemic, which has left many stuck at home, may also have contributed. I can think of few better ways to spend 100+ hours of quarantine than playing a new Xenoblade game. 

Here are all the upcoming Switch games (opens in new tab) for 2020 and beyond.