UK Sales of Super Mario 3D All-Stars Soar in its Final Week

Nintendo's controversial decision to limit the availability of Super Mario 3D All-Stars is one that drew plenty of criticism when it was first announced last September. Now, as Nintendo prepares to pull the game from retailers across the globe, as well as its online store, sales of the title are rapidly increasing as players rush to secure their copies before it's too late. With just two days to go until March 31st, that time has very nearly arrived.

Although the practice of time-limited titles may not be popular with players, Nintendo may well feel that its decision has been somewhat vindicated; especially given how well the game has sold. The company's own webpage shows that more than eight million copies of Super Mario 3D All-Stars were purchased before the end of 2021; a figure that is likely to rise beyond the ten million mark before the game's six months on the market officially come to an end. In fact, a recent surge in sales in the UK may well have been enough to push it past this impressive milestone already.

According to industry analyst gamesindustry.biz, sales of Super Mario 3D All-Stars rose by 276% in the UK for the week ending March 27th, which led to the game jumping from ninth to second in the country's officials video game top ten chart. Exactly how many copies of the game were sold is unknown as GfK doesn't provide exact unit totals, although it comfortably outsold EA's FIFA 21 despite the multi-platform title also seeing a big increase in week-on-week sales due to ongoing promotions.

The news will be welcomed by Nintendo executives, although some people believe that intentionally limiting the availability of games and gaming accessories is feeding a growing black market of scalpers; many of whom have built their businesses around exploiting desperate consumers. Sealed copies of 3D All-Stars have already started showing up on sites like eBay, with some listed for as much as $200.

The surge in sales of 3D All-Stars isn't all that the Japanese giant will be celebrating though, with the UK chart also revealing that nine of the country's top ten best sellers last week were Switch titles. This is becoming an increasingly common occurrence not just in the United Kingdom, but also in Japan, as well. According to the latest figures there, Switch titles made up 29 of the 30 best selling games for the week ending March 21st. With Capcom recently revealing that Monster Hunter Rise has already shipped more than four million copies, that may well become 30 out of 30 when the latest Japanese sales figures are released on Wednesday.

Never let it be said that Nintendo didn't take Super Mario's 35th birthday seriously. 2020 saw a lot of pretty huge announcements that a lot of fans had cause to be excited about. For a long time, fans dreamt of playing nostalgic Super Mario classics on the Switch, and that's just what Super Mario 3D All-Stars enabled. For a lot of younger fans of the franchise, it was their first chance to play Super Mario 64 or Super Mario Sunshine, so it really made an impact on the community to see just how far Mario and company had come. Super Mario 3D All-Stars and all the other exclusive events and merchandise released specifically for this anniversary will certainly stay close to fans' hearts for a long time.