Nintendo

How many copies did Super Smash Bros. sell? — 2024 statistics

Battling it out in the arena of gaming metrics.

Fact-checked
First Released
January 21, 1999
Genre
Fighting
Developer
Bandai Namco Studios
Publisher
Nintendo

Super Smash Bros. is more than just a fighting game; it’s where iconic Nintendo characters come together for epic showdowns. What sets it apart? The unique gameplay that ditches traditional health bars for percentages, adding a fun twist to battles. This series has been a fan favorite for years. If you’re wondering about its success, we’ll start by diving deep into Super Smash Bros. sales. And for those looking for even more insights, we’ve also compiled some cool Super Smash Bros. statistics about its journey and what lies ahead. If you want to learn more on a wide variety of topics, why not take a gander at the state of the gaming industry’s revenue?

Super Smash Bros. key stats

Since the first game was released in 1999, there have been 6 total installments in the series and all of them have amounted to millions of sales worldwide. We’ll dive into the sales in more depth and examine the most important information about the series. From total Super Smash Bros. sales and revenue to content and esports earnings, we will present you with all of the information you need to learn everything about this iconic series.

Super Smash Bros. sales have reached a staggering 71.74 million copies worldwide.

(Source: VG Sales)

  • Super Smash Bros. Ultimate has sold 30.44 million copies.
  • Super Smash Bros. Brawl has sold 13.32 million copies.
  • Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS sold 9.64 million copies.
  • Super Smash Bros. Melee sold 7.41 million copies.
  • The original Super Smash Bros. sold 5.55 million copies.
  • Super Smash Bros. for Wii U sold 5.38 million copies.

Since Nintendo is such a well-established company, it is also one of those companies for which you can find accurate sales stats for most of their games. Speaking of Super Smash Bros. in particular, it is apparent that the series has had monumental success since the first game was released in 1999, gathering dozens of millions of sales and establishing itself as one of Nintendo’s cornerstones.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate sales reached 5 million copies in its first 3 days.

(Source: Comic Book)

Wondering how many copies did Super Smash Bros. Ultimate sell? The buzz around the latest installment was undeniable. Right from its launch, the game flew off the shelves, zooming past the 30 million sales mark in record time. This success didn’t just boost the game’s numbers; it was a golden time for Nintendo overall, with a surge in hardware sales and their other titles also performing strongly.

Super Smash Bros. Brawl players invested 100 million hours in the game in 2009.

(Source: Engadget)

  • To be exact, players invested 100,258,406 hours in the game.
  • This time was invested across 46.3 million sessions.
  • The average time a person spent in the game was 73 hours.
  • The time was accumulated between March 2008 and November 2009.

As we can see in this line of stats, the hype and popularity of the Super Smash Bros. series did not start with the newest releases, but it was there since the start of the series. This is mainly because Super Smash Bros. dared to alter the cookie-cutter formula of fighting games and add more complexity to it while also making their games refreshing and insanely fun to play.

Super Smash Bros. was the fastest-selling Wii U game in history with 14 million copies.

(Source: Sportskeeda)

  • The game sold 490,000 copies in North America.
  • By 2014, the entire series had sold 14 million copies.
  • Super Smash Bros. for the Wii U had a staggered release, meaning that it was first released in some regions before others.

While the original Super Smash Bros. did not see the same amount of sales that you might see with the newer games, it was still a monumental release of its time and established a foundation that all games after it could follow with guaranteed success. Also, in this line of stats, we can see that the number of Super Smash Bros. sales gets progressively higher the more the years go by, and that is because of how easy it has become to get games and play them immediately.

The Super Mario movie is going to get a Super Smash Bros. fight.

(Source: Polygon)

  • The movie should show Mario and Donkey Kong in a full-scale Smash Bros. fight.
  • The movie is releasing on April 7th, 2023.
  • Based on available news, the movie will go through the Mario franchise and present the best of the best of it.
  • The movie has faced some controversy surrounding the casting of the voice actors, as fans have felt that casing celebrities should be avoided.

The upcoming Super Smash Bros. movie has been the subject of mixed feelings, mostly because the movie is supposed to represent the best that the Super Mario franchise has had to give over its lifetime, but casting choices were a little… questionable. The film industry seems to be going down a rabbit hole of thinking that casting celebrities for the voices of pop fiction characters is a good idea despite the fact that professional voice actors would most likely do a better job.

Super Smash Bros. esports and Twitch stats

Okay, so this next section is going to take a look at the competitive side of Super Smash Bros., more specifically Melee and Ultimate as they are the most popular entries at the moment. Fighting games are fun to watch, but Super Smash Bros. takes it to the next level with its unique approach to gameplay mechanics, which leads to a massive rise in Twitch viewership appeal.

Players have earned $3.56 million from the Super Smash Bros. Melee esports scene.

(Source: Esports Earnings)

  • The money was distributed across 2641 tournaments.
  • The highest prize pool belongs to Smash Summit 11 (Singles) with $153,489.
  • The rest of the tournaments’ prize pools range from $83,700 to $1,250.
  • 97.34% of the total prize money was awarded at offline/LAN tournaments.
  • $2.7 million was awarded in the United States.
  • The most successful Super Smash Bros. Melee player is Juan “Hungrybox” Debiedma.
  • He has won $396,301 from 307 tournaments.
  • He is ranked #527 in the world and #88 in the United States.

Right off the bat, we can see that Super Smash Bros. Melee has distributed much more money than the much newer game — Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. This is, of course, because Melee has been around for a longer time and has had more time to accumulate followers and tournament prize money.

Players have earned $2.28 million from the Super Smash Bros. Ultimate esports scene.

(Source: Esports Earnings)

  • The money was distributed across 1656 tournaments.
  • The highest prize pool belongs to Smash Ultimate Summit (Singles) with $156,904.
  • The rest of the tournaments’ prize pools range from $75,000 to $800.
  • 83.13% of the total prize money was awarded at offline/LAN tournaments.
  • $1.1 million was awarded in the United States.
  • The most successful Super Smash Bros. Ultimate player is Leonardo “MKLeo” Perez.
  • He has won $286,228 from 111 tournaments.
  • He is ranked #828 in the world and #3 in Mexico.

There is not much to say about this line of stats except for the fact that the newer game has earned less money on its esports scene than Smash Bros. Melee, but that is to be expected since Melee has been around since 2001 and Ultimate is a 2018 release. We are sure that Ultimate is going to gather much more prize money over time, and we’re all here for it!

Fans spent 13.9 million hours watching Super Smash Bros. Melee in 2022.

(Source: SullyGnome)

  • The game had 193,129 broadcasting hours.
  • On average, 1,594 viewers were watching the game.
  • It had a viewer ratio of 72.3.
  • The peak number of viewers watching the game was 99,293.

When it comes to the Twitch situation for these two games, it is the complete opposite compared to the games’ esports scenes, with Melee having considerably fewer hours watched than Ultimate. Still, 13.9 million hours watched is nothing to smirk at, so you can be sure that Melee is still a very popular game.

Fans spent 41.4 million hours watching Super Smash Bros. Ultimate in 2022.

(Source: SullyGnome)

  • The game had 933,866 broadcasting hours.
  • On average, 4,726 viewers were watching the game.
  • It had a viewer ratio of 44.3.
  • The peak number of viewers watching the game was 160,081.

As before, there is not much to say about Super Smash Bros. Ultimate other than the fact that this is a much more popular game compared to its older predecessor, so it is bound to have many more views than the other one. 41 million hours watched is an excellent number for any game to aim for, and it is going to increase as more characters are added to the game.

Generation Esports teamed up with Nintendo to add their games to the Middle School Esports League.

(Source: Nintendo Life)

  • Generation Esports is a scholastic gaming company that focuses on bringing gaming to students.
  • Their goal is to make gaming and competitive gaming more accessible and to highlight the importance of mental health in regard to that.
  • Nintendo’s partnership with the company means that Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, and Splatoon 3 will be added to the selection of games.
  • The CCO of Generation Esports says that they are working on nurturing the next generation of esports by working with the students.

The final line of stats we have is in regard to a positive movement within the esports community, where Nintendo has paired up with Generation Esports to allow them to add some of their games to the roster of the event. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe are sure to be a perfect addition to the event. Crossover events like this are a great way to get the youth involved in competitive gaming and we’re sure that this is going to be a bright spot in the esports community in general.

To sum up

Alright, it looks like we’ve KO’d everything we could have in regard to the Super Smash Bros. series. There is no denying that Smahs Bros. is a timeless series that was set up for success from the very beginning and it has not disappointed yet! Millions of sales and gameplay hours later, the Smash Bros. community has accumulated so many accolades and achievements that have cemented this series as one of the cornerstones of the Nintendo franchise. We sincerely hope that you have enjoyed the information we have had to present here and that you have learned something new about this fantastic series!

Sources

  • “Super Smash Bros.”. VG Sales, 2023, https://vgsales.fandom.com/wiki/Super_Smash_Bros.
  • “‘Super Smash Bros. Ultimate’ Sold 5 Million Copies In 3 Days”. Comic Book, 2018, https://comicbook.com/gaming/news/super-smash-bros-ultimate-sold-5-million-in-3-days/
  • Super Smash Bros. Brawl: Wii Nintendo Channel Game Data: 100,000,000 Hours!”. Coffee With Games, 2009, http://www.coffeewithgames.com/2009/11/super-smash-bros-brawl-wii-nintendo.html?uuid=Yy1AmHADbRU7XuJL4667
  • “Super Smash Bros. Brawl surpasses 100 million hours played”. Engadget, 2009, https://www.engadget.com/2009-11-17-super-smash-bros-brawl-surpasses-100-million-hours-played.html?guccounter=1
  • “Super Smash Bros. is now the fastest selling game in Wii U history”. Sportskeeda, 2014, https://www.sportskeeda.com/esports/super-smash-bros-fastest-selling-game-in-wii-u-history
  • “Juan “Hungrybox” Debiedma – Smash Player”. Esports Earnings, 2023, https://www.esportsearnings.com/players/3918-hungrybox-juan-debiedma
  • “Super Smash Bros. Melee”. Esport Earnings, 2023, https://www.esportsearnings.com/games/204-super-smash-bros-melee
  • “Super Smash Bros. Ultimate”. Esports Earnings, 2023, https://www.esportsearnings.com/games/558-super-smash-bros-ultimate
  • “Leonardo “MKLeo” Perez – Smash Player”. Esports Earnings, 2023, https://www.esportsearnings.com/players/29570-mkleo-leonardo-perez
  • “Generation Esports Officially Partners With Nintendo For Middle School Esports Event”. Nintendo Life, 2023, https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2023/02/generation-esports-officially-partners-with-nintendo-for-middle-school-esports-event
  • “Super Smash Bros. Melee”. SullyGnome, 2022, https://sullygnome.com/game/Super_Smash_Bros._Melee/365/summary
  • “Super Smash Bros. Ultimate”. SullyGnome, 2022, https://sullygnome.com/game/SuperSmashBrosUltimate/365