Global data firm Newzoo has published a new report looking at the data from early digital sales on the Nintendo Switch 2, as Newzoo's product manager, Max Otten, tried to get an early answer to the question of whether the Switch 2 is a viable ecosystem for third-party developers and publishers.
Otten looked at digital sales data for June 2025 from six major markets, including the United States, the United Kingdom, Italy, Spain, Germany, and France, and saw that three out of the top five games by units sold on the Nintendo Switch 2 were third-party titles. At the top of them all? Toby Fox's long-awaited Undertale follow-up, Deltarune.
Deltarune doing well isn't the biggest surprise, considering that a week ago, Newzoo reported that it had made it into the top-20 games by revenue for June 2025. However, that knowledge doesn't exactly wear off the shock of seeing it over top of Mario Kart World, though this is where it's important to remember that the sales data Newzoo is pulling from does not include physical sales. In the US alone, 82% of people who bought a Switch 2 also bought Mario Kart World in a physical format, so it makes sense that the digital sales aren't as chart-topping as you might expect.
Though perhaps the most surprising aspect of Newzoo's report is seeing Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour in second place behind Deltarune, and ahead of Mario Kart World in third. Otten's guess at what happened here, while accurately calling Welcome Tour "essentially a tech demo" in the same breath, is that the combination of its "low price and lack of launch-window exclusives likely helped drive sales."
Rounding out the rest of the top five is Minecraft in the number four spot, and No Man's Sky in the number five spot, and once again, at least one of those games is not the third-party title you'd expect. Minecraft isn't a surprise, but No Man's Sky is, at least slightly, when considering that Cyberpunk 2077 on Switch 2 has been one of the standout third-party releases so far, at least in the US.
That top five changes slightly when Otten looks at which games that were exclusive to the Nintendo Switch 2 had the biggest revenue share, with Mario Kart World in its expected top spot, followed by Fantasy Life I in second, Cyberpunk 2077 in third, No Man's Sky in fourth and Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour in fifth, making it once again a three-to-two third-party games majority.
In fact, the only top five Otten shows in his report, where the majority of games listed are first-party Nintendo titles, is the list of top five titles by monthly active users for June 2025. Mario Kart World, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, and Animal Crossing: New Horizons take first, third, fourth, and fifth place on that list, respectively. Fortnite is the only third-party entry in the number two spot.
All this said, Otten closes his report by saying that "While first-party titles command overall sales leadership, there are clear pockets of spending on third-party content—especially for games that are well-optimized, offer genre diversity, or present new experiences to the platform."
He adds that "early data shows glimmers of promise for third-party titles at launch, and players are showing up for enhanced ports, narrative games, and non-traditional Switch genres."
We'll learn more about how viable the Nintendo Switch 2 ecosystem is for third-party titles the deeper into the console's life we go. Only looking at first-month sales in select major markets and sticking with digital sales is nowhere close to the whole picture. But Otten has shown how even new third-party titles can find chart-topping success. It'll be interesting to see what else is able to top the charts in the coming months.
About the author: David has been writing about videogames, technology, and culture since 2020, with a focus on reporting daily news across multiple publications, including GameDaily.Biz, GameSkinny, and PlayStation Universe before joining Wccftech in 2025. David started contributing as Canada/US reporter for Wccftech's gaming section in 2025. Besides being up-to-date on the industry's movements, he loves interviewing developers, reviewing games, and writing intricate essays about the symbolism and layered meanings to be found in rich narratives as he's done for publications like GamesIndustry.Biz, LostInCult, and others. Outside of games he loves movies, music, theatre, his hometown, and his family, though not necessarily in that order.
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