Following the announcement of Pyra and Mythra coming to Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Xenoblade Chronicles 2 has sold out in Japan. The reception to Pyra and Mythra may have been somewhat divisive, but Super Smash Bros. is still doing its job of promoting other Nintendo game series well.
Super Smash Bros. has always been an effective tool at promoting series. As far back as Super Smash Bros. Melee, the addition of Marth and Roy was what brought Fire Emblem to the west and eventually flourish into the series it is now. It didn't stop there either, as the addition of Corrin helped promote the western release of Fire Emblem Fates, which was only a few months away at the time of Corrin's release. The Smash Bros. series is known for exposing new fans to series that they haven't played before, and as such, adding characters from a wide variety of gaming series has always been an effective way to increase sales for certain IPs.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the announcement of Pyra and Mythra has had remarkable effects on the sales of Xenoblade Chronicles 2. BellowDGaming posted a tweet sourcing a blog that shows Xenoblade Chronicles 2 being sold out on Amazon Japan. In addition, the English game is also low on stock on Amazon at the time of writing and is currently being priced at $99.99, which is $40 more than its normal pricing.
While Xenoblade Chronicles has had moderately successful sales figures, it’s still considered as one of Nintendo’s more niche series. As of September 2020, Xenoblade Chronicles 2 has sold 2.05 million units while Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition has sold 1.48 million. But considering that the Xenoblade series never broke one million in sales prior to Xenoblade Chronicles 2, this is still very impressive. Xenoblade Chronicles only arrived at the west due to the efforts of Operation Rainfall, a fan campaign focused on bringing JRPG games over to the west. The addition of Shulk in Super Smash Bros 4 also helped it gain more traction, but it wasn't until Xenoblade Chronicles 2 that the series reached its peak in popularity.
As these new sales for Xenoblade Chronicles 2 show, the series is back in the spotlight once more, and many new fans will get the opportunity to play these JRPGs. The series is still flourishing on the Nintendo Switch, but its sales figures and popularity still don't match the likes of other series such as Fire Emblem. The series could use all the love it could get considering its competition, which is why the addition of Pyra and Mythra is yet another big boon for Xenoblade Chronicles. Pyra and Mythra will be released in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate in March.
Source: BellowDGaming, Amazon