This year was big for the Nintendo Switch with plenty of major titles both from Nintendo and a variety of third-party developers. Nintendo saw many of its first-party franchises receive new games during the calendar year including Super Mario 3D World and Metroid Dread while third-party titles like Among Us and Story of Seasons: Pioneers of Olive Town surged to popularity over the course of the year. However, amidst fierce competition from some of Nintendo's biggest heavy-hitters, Capcom would ultimately emerge victorious as Monster Hunter Rise would lead the charge for the Switch in 2021.
Monster Hunter Rise saw massive success following its release in March of this year. The game quickly climbed to the top of Nintendo's sales charts after its launch and has become the best-selling entry in the long-running monster slaying franchise, selling over 7.5 million copies as of October. Rise's massive success was followed up with the announcement of its first major expansion, Sunbreak, revealed to be releasing during the summer of next year. Now, Nintendo's end-of-year sales rankings confirm Rise's massive popularity with the newest main-series Monster Hunter sitting as Japan's most downloaded Switch game of 2021.
Nintendo of Japan officially revealed its annual download ranking on Tuesday, featuring the Top 30 most downloaded games on Switch during 2021, with Monster Hunter Rise taking the crown as Japan's most downloaded game of the year. Following Monster Hunter Rise at the #2 spot was the breakout hit indie game Among Us with Nintendo's own Pokemon Brilliant Diamond taking 3rd place in the annual ranking. Brilliant Diamond's counterpart in Shining Pearl would follow two places behind landing at the #5 spot.
Alongside several new games like Mario Party Superstars and Game Builder Garage were several Switch staples with Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, Minecraft, and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate all finishing within the Top 10 most downloaded games. Several games exclusive to Japan also finished high in the developer's end-of-year rankings with the Japan-only Momotaro Dentetsu: Showa, Heisei, Reiwa mo Teiban! placing just outside the Top 3 at #4 ahead of major 2021 titles like Pokemon Shining Pearl and Super Mario 3D World.
Monster Hunter Rise's finish atop the Japanese download rankings for Switch caps off a banner year for one of Capcom's premier franchises. Rise was joined by the release of Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin in July, which finished at #18 in the rankings. Rise is set to receive a PC version scheduled to come next month. With the release of the highly-anticipated Sunbreak expansion on the horizon and a PC version releasing early into 2021, Monster Hunter Rise will look to carry its success from 2021 into the next year as well.
Monster Hunter Rise is available now on Nintendo Switch, with a PC version is scheduled to release on January 12.
Source: Nintendo
