Splatoon Joins Wii U Bestseller List With 4m Sales

Splatoon, the online multiplayer shooter from Nintendo wherein players cover arenas with jets of coloured ink, has sold more than 4 million units since its release in May 2015.

That makes it the sixth-best selling Wii U game so far, with about a third of all Wii U owners having purchased the title. It is also one of the best-selling new IPs of 2015.

In a briefing to investors, Nintendo also revealed that Super Mario Maker sales had reached 3.34 million units. The game, in which players create and upload their own Mario levels using the Wii U's touch-screen interface, was ranked fifth in GameSpot's 2015 Game of the Year feature.

News of Splatoon and Mario Maker's stong sales come as Nintendo reports an increase in operating profits, while lifetime sales of the Wii U have reached 12.6 million units.

As for the Nintendo 3DS software, last year the best seller appeared to be Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer, with 2.9 million units sold globally.

So far, Nintendo has sold 79 million Wii U games altogether, which is less than a tenth of what the original Wii sold.

Best Selling Wii U Games So Far

1. Mario Kart 8 - 7.2 million
2. New Super Mario Bros U - 5.1 million
3. Nintendo Land - 5 million
4. Super Mario 3D World - 4.6 million
5. Super Smash Bros for Wii U - 4.6 million
6. Splatoon - 4 million
7. Super Mario Maker - 3.3 million
8. New Super Luigi U - 2.4 million
9. The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD - 1.7 million
10. Mario Party 10 - 1.65 million