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Splatoon sales are flying, passing 1 million units in less than a month – even without voice chat.

In a world where the Wii U is considered to be the weak link of the console world – very much in third place behind the PS4 and Xbox One – few can argue of the efficacy and popularity of Nintendo’s own titles.

Of the 9.54 million Wii U units reported sold to date in Nintendo’s annual reports this year, just over 1 million of those now has a copy of Splatoon to play on it. That’s 1.09 million, in less than a month, to be precise. Or 11.4% . Yes, a shade over ten percent of all Wii U owners rushed out and bought a copy of third-person-squid-em-up Splatoon in a measly 27 days.

Of those eager early Splatoon adopters, Nintendo tells us the distribution is as follows:

  1. Americas – 476,000
  2. Japan – 368,000
  3. Europe – 230,000
  4. Australia – 20,00

What does that tell us, then – that Nintendo was desperately in need of a popular shooter? Maybe, but even without voice chat – considered by many an online competitive shooter must-have, and a critical omission by Nintendo – Splatoon is still flying.

It also indicates that Nintendo have the ability to take whatever madcap idea they come across – yes, even youths who turn into squid battling for control over an arena using ink – and spin it into something pretty wonderful.

So while Sony and Microsoft might not be envious of Nintendo’s overall hardware sales of the Wii U, they would be damn liars if they told you they weren’t a little bit jealous of their conversion rates, particularly when it comes to first-party titles. To have over 10% percent of your customer base rush out and buy an in-house game within four weeks of launch? That’s just fantastic. Well done, Nintendo!

For reference, here’s where Splatoon fits into the list of top ten of Wii U bestsellers at the time of writing:

  1. Mario Kart 8 – 5.11 million
  2. New Super Mario Bros. U – 4.81 million
  3. Nintendo Land – 4.68 million
  4. Super Mario 3D World – 4.1 million
  5. Super Smash Bros. For Wii U – 3.65 million
  6. New Super Luigi U – 2.25 million
  7. Wii Party U – 1.55 million
  8. The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD – 1.52 million
  9. Splatoon – 1.09 million
  10. Hyrule Warriors – 1 million
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