Paper Mario: The Origami King is the fastest selling game yet in the Paper Mario series. The Switch game released in July and was received generally positively, despite not heralding the return to the classic gameplay from the early entries in the series that some fans were hoping for.
Instead of using a traditional RPG combat system, The Origami King takes a more puzzle-like approach, a feature that fans seem to have both loved and hated. While the quirky battle system and the game’s low difficulty left some players feeling let down by fights with run-of-the-mill enemies, most critics and fans alike praised The Origami King for its engaging boss fights. Players also praised the game’s stellar writing and good sense of humor, with some saying it’s a high point for the series’ comedy.
Clearly, Nintendo got quite a few things right with Paper Mario: The Origami King, at least if sales figures are anything to go by. According to video game industry analyst Mat Piscatella, The Origami King was not only the third best selling game of July 2020, but also the fastest selling game in the Paper Mario series to date, beating out Super Paper Mario for the title. In its first month after release, The Origami King sold more than twice the number of physical copies than Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door did in the same period after its launch. That’s made even more remarkable by the fact that more and more game sales are shifting from physical to digital, with total digital sales overtaking physical sales on consoles for the first time recently.
For Nintendo and other developers, 2020 has been a chart-topping year when it comes to video game sales. Some of that is certainly due to the number of hotly anticipated, high-quality games to come out so far this year, but there are also some factors that no one could have accounted for. As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to disrupt life all around the world, one of the most widespread effects is simply how it’s forced so many people to spend much more of their time indoors. It turns out that one way people are coping with that is by buying a lot more video games and spending more time playing games online as a form of stress relief and social contact.
Despite having Mario in the title, Paper Mario: The Origami King’s incredible sales are still surprising. It’s an unconventional title as far as Nintendo games go and one from a series that fans have long been suspicious of. Whatever the reasons for its success, Paper Mario: The Origami King may have saved its franchise, or at least showed a lot of players that it still has something to offer.
Paper Mario: The Origami King is available now on Nintendo Switch.
Source: Mat Piscatella/Twitter