Nintendo Europe has revealed the most-played Switch games of 2019 and Mario, Link and Pikachu have been topped on their own turf.
Based on the time-played on all Switch consoles with a Nintendo Account in Europe, Fortnite is the most played game of 2019. It’s a remarkable testament to the battle royale game, which is nothing short of a phenomenon on every platform it has been made available on.
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is the second-most played title of the year, which is again quite surprising considering the game launched with the system, in March of 2017. In third place is Super Smash Brothers Ultimate, which launched in late 2018 and saw Switch users rack-up the hours throughout the year.
Related: Best Nintendo Switch games
Another multi-platform title rounds out the top four, with Minecraft taking its place among the Switch elite, once again illustrating the game’s enduring appeal, even a decade after it was first released. Another launch title, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe completes the top five, while Super Mario Odyssey is at number 8.
There are four Pokemon games in the line up with Pokémon: Let’s Go, Pikachu! at number 6 and Pokémon: Let’s Go, Eevee! At 7. Pokemon Sword and Pokemon Shield are 11th and 12th respectively. However, the latter two were released late in 2019 and can expect to be much higher in next year’s rankings.
There are four other Mario franchise games in the top 20 list (via Nintendo Life), bringing the total to seven, if you include the presence of Smash Bros.. They include New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe (13),
Super Mario Party (14), Super Mario Maker 2 (15) and Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle (20).
Despite its limited functionality on the Switch console, both FIFA 19 (9) and FIFA 18 (17) make the top twenty. The release of the list comes after Nintendo outed its own Spotify Wrapped-style year in review for gamers, outlining their most-played titles throughout the year.
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Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
