Nintendo says Kirby and the Forgotten Land has seen the “highest sell-through” for any entry in the series to date.
The critically acclaimedSwitchtitle has sold 4 million copies in its first 15 weeks, whichNintendoclaims is a record for the series.
However, it’s widely claimed online that Kirby’s Dream Land on the Game Boy sold over 5 million copies – a stat often attributed to theComputer Entertainment Supplier’s Association.
It’s not clear, then, whether Nintendo is now suggesting that this information is inaccurate, or whether it’s saying that Forgotten Land has sold more copies in 15 weeks than any other Kirby title.
Regardless, the figures bode well for a title that, according to an interview posted on the Nintendo website in March,took around two decades of strugglingbefore Nintendo and HAL were able to make a 3D Kirby platformer.
Nintendo’s new claims back up reports shortly after the game’s release that it was breaking records in various regions.
Famitsureported in March that, based on its sales data, the game had enjoyed the biggest Japanese launch in the history of the franchise, selling 380,000 copies in its first week, more than any other Kirby game in Japan.
Similarly, GfK’s physical-only sales data published byGI.Bizsuggested the game enjoyed the best first week’s sales of any Kirby title in the UK, and after its first week was already the fifth best-selling game in the series’ history in the UK, without taking digital sales into account too.
Further reading
Kirby and the Forgotten Land has received widespread critical acclaim, with a current score of 85 on review aggregation siteMetacritic.
VGC’sKirby and the Forgotten Land reviewcalls it “another accomplished charmer from HAL’s inhalatory hero,” adding: “The platforming won’t give Mario any restless nights, but the exuberant creativity around it makes for a bold, buoyant adventure.”
