Pre-Loads Only? Star Fox Still Hit #1 on Switch 2

Nobody can play Star Fox yet. The game doesn't launch until June 25. And it's still the best-selling title on the Switch 2 eShop.

According to the latest Nintendo Switch 2 eShop charts for the week of June 21, 2026, as reported by Nintendo Everything, Star Fox claimed the #1 spot on the All Games chart based purely on pre-load purchases. It beat out The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales, which actually released and is playable right now, along with established heavyweights like Pokemon Pokopia, Mario Kart World, and both Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom in their Switch 2 editions.

I've seen pre-orders chart well before. That's normal for a big first-party release. But topping a chart that includes the entire Switch 2 library, including games people are actively buying and playing, on pre-loads alone? That's a different level of demand. It suggests the install base is hungry for a new Star Fox, and given how long the franchise has been dormant, I'm not surprised.

What It Beat

Look at what's sitting below Star Fox on that chart. Pokemon Pokopia at #3. Mario Kart World at #5. Donkey Kong Bananza at #7. Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth at #21. Resident Evil Requiem at #24. These aren't filler titles; they're some of the biggest games on the platform, and a game you literally cannot boot up yet is outselling all of them.

The Adventures of Elliot landed at #2 with its standard edition and #4 with its Digital Deluxe Edition, which is a strong showing for a game that's actually available. But even combining both SKUs, it couldn't match the raw pre-load volume Star Fox generated.

On the Download-Only chart, Star Fox doesn't appear since it has a physical release, which gives a clearer picture of the digital-only landscape. Rise of the Tomb Raider and Devil May Cry 5 sit at #1 and #2 there, with Deltarune at #5. Deltarune Chapter 5 is also launching this week across PS5, Switch 2, PS4, Switch, and PC via Steam, so that chart is going to shift significantly in the coming days.

Nintendo has been building the Star Fox hype methodically. Ahead of the launch, the company made a line of Star Fox plush toys available on its European Nintendo Store, featuring Fox McCloud, Falco Lombardi, Peppy Hare, and Slippy Toad at £29.99 each, as spotted by Nintendo Life. They also shared a movie-style poster across social media. It's the kind of merchandise push you'd normally associate with a Mario or Zelda launch, not Star Fox, and it signals how much confidence Nintendo has in this one.

The game itself clocks in at 14.8GB on Switch 2, according to eShop listings compiled by Nintendo Everything.0GB. Star Fox is a leaner package, but file size has never been the metric Nintendo first-party titles.

This week is stacked beyond Star Fox, too. DEAD OR ALIVE 6 Last Round hits PS5, Xbox Series, and PC. EMPULSE enters Early Access on PS5, Xbox Series, and PC. Moldwasher and Dark Scrolls launch on PC. Deer & Boy arrives across PS5, Xbox Series, Switch, and PC. NAMCO LEGENDARY Mountains comes to Switch 2, Switch, and PC. And Wanderstop, Citizen Sleeper, and Citizen Sleeper 2 all make their Switch 2 debuts. It's one of the busiest release weeks the platform has seen.

None of it mattered. Star Fox sat at the top of the chart before a single person could fly an Arwing. The game launches worldwide on June 25, and if pre-load numbers are any indication, the first-week sales figures are going to be enormous.