Splatoon 3’s first weekend set a new sales record

3.45 million copies of Nintendo Co.’s Splatoon 3 were sold over its first weekend in Japan, making it the Switch’s greatest debut to date.

After the news, shares of the console manufacturer rose 6% in Tokyo, the largest intraday increase since December 2020.

The release of Splatoon 3 exceeded the sales of any Switch game

In an effort to make the Switch last longer than the average lifespan of a single console generation, Nintendo has a strong lineup of games planned for the holiday season. Splatoon 3 is one of those games.

According to Citi analysts, Nintendo’s new game sales are almost always above their projections.

Nintendo has previously disclosed reduced sales for the month of December as hardware issues, ongoing component shortages, and increased material costs this year have negatively impacted company expectations.