Nintendo: Splatoon, Mario Maker are ‘blockbusters’ for Wii U

Nintendo had a dud on its hands with the Wii U in 2015, but it still managed to sell a lot of software.

The publisher confirmed today that Splatoon, its colorful shooter for the Wii U, sold 4.06 million copies through the end of its fiscal third quarter, which ended December 31. Super Mario Maker, the console’s build-your-own Mario game, surpassed 3.34 million copies sold. This makes those two games the sixth and seventh best-selling games for the Wii U platform, respectively. Getting this kind of software performance out of the Wii U is important for Nintendo as it tries to return to steady profitability (despite missing expectations) in the multi-billion-dollar console-gaming sector.

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In its earnings release, Nintendo noted that both games are “blockbusters” that “vitalized the Wii U platform.” To translate that, the company sold 3 million Wii U systems during its third quarter. While that is a rather low number compared to the competition, it’s respectable for a console that many treat as an afterthought.

As a way of maintaining some of this momentum, Nintendo is promising investors that it will continue to focus on these releases.

“We will strive to maintain the attention level of Splatoon and Super Mario Maker, which are continuing to show steady sales,” reads the company’s release.

Nintendo did not specify whether that “attention” will manifest as more content or more marketing.

In addition to Splatoon and Super Mario Maker, Mario Kart 8 sold 2.13 million copies and Yoshi’s Woolly World sold 1.31 million copies during the last quarter.