Monolith Soft’s Pikmin 3 Deluxe debuted on the Nintendo Switch in October 2020. In the week of its launch, the game came out of the gate as the top-selling title on Famitsu’s Japanese sales charts. That momentum hasn’t slowed down in the months since its release.
According to the latest reports by Weekly Famitsu magazine, Pikmin 3 Deluxe has already sold 499,000 retail units in Japan. To put that number in perspective, the original Pikmin sold just over 500,000 units over its lifetime in Japan, and Pikmin 2 sold roughly 480,000. This makes Pikmin 3 Deluxe not only the fastest-selling game in the franchise in Japan thus far, but it will soon also become the best selling. Considering Pikmin 3 on the Wii U only sold approximately 200,000 units total in Japan, these numbers are even more noteworthy.
The additions and improvements introduced in Pikmin 3 Deluxe likely explain much of the game’s success. Reviews of the updated version of the game have been predominantly positive, with many gamers citing the addition of split-screen cooperative play as one of the greatest changes to the Switch port. Although the game doesn’t allow for online play, exploring planet PNF-404 with a friend adds a new dimension to the gameplay of Pikmin 3 Deluxe. This means that even players who already own Pikmin 3 for the Wii U can still find value in purchasing the new game.
Besides Pikmin 3 Deluxe’s new co-op story mode, there are additional side stories to play through that weren’t available in the original version of the game. These will be of particular interest to fans of the series who have played the first two games because they star Captain Olimar and Louie, the main and secondary protagonists of Pikmin and Pikmin 2. Both characters are playable in these additional side missions, in either single player or co-op mode.
Pikmin 3 Deluxe also features a number of control tweaks to accommodate for the differences between the Wii U controller and the Switch’s Joy-Cons or Pro Controller. The lock-on system now locks the cursor rather than the camera, which allows players to maneuver more easily while locked onto an object or enemy. Carrying numbers also appear above some items that the Pikmin can move or interact with, enabling players to better gauge how many of the little critters to allocate to tasks.
The success of Pikmin 3 Deluxe in Japan gives fans of the franchise reason to hope for more news about Pikmin 4, which was first mentioned back in 2014 in an interview with Shigeru Miyamoto but was never officially announced. Although Miyamoto again confirmed that the game was in development at E3 2017, there have been no updates about a new entry in the series since.
Pikmin 3 Deluxe is available on Nintendo Switch.
Source: Game Infinitus