A Yoshi Game Just Outsold Pokemon Two Weeks Running

"It's Yoshi in first and Pokemon in second." That single line from the latest Nintendo Switch 2 eShop charts reads like a typo, but it's not. For the week of May 24, 2026, Yoshi and the Mysterious Book is sitting at #1 on the all-games chart, with Pokemon Pokopia stuck at #2 for the second consecutive week, as tracked by Nintendo Everything.

Last week, Yoshi's lead could be explained away. The game had pre-loads running, and early adopters were locking in their copies before launch day. You could argue Pokemon Pokopia was simply past its initial sales spike. But now Yoshi has actually launched, players have the game in their hands, and it's still on top. I cannot remember the last time a Yoshi title outsold a mainline Pokemon release over any stretch, let alone two weeks straight.

What the full chart tells us

The rest of the Switch 2 eShop top ten paints an interesting picture of where the platform's audience is right now. Mario Kart World sits at #3, Donkey Kong Bananza at #4, and Tales of Arise: Beyond the Dawn debuted with two separate editions landing at #5 and #8. Indiana Jones and the Great Circle holds #6, while Pokemon Legends: Z-A's Switch 2 Edition at #7 means Pokemon actually has two entries in the top ten. Even with both slots, neither could dislodge a Yoshi game. That's wild.

Further down, the chart is a mix of upgraded Switch 1 titles and third-party ports that shows the Switch 2 library filling out fast. Super Mario Bros. Wonder, both Zelda games, Subnautica, Fallout 4, Cyberpunk 2077, and Resident Evil Requiem all have spots in the top 30. Bubsy 4D at #24 is a sentence I never expected to write in 2026, but here we are.

The download-only chart tells a slightly different story. Subnautica leads, followed by Fallout 4 and Mixtape, with Hades 2 and Hollow Knight: Silksong also making strong showings. These are the games people are grabbing digitally without a physical option, and the spread of indie and AA titles there is encouraging for the platform's long-term health.

What makes Yoshi's performance so striking is context. Pokemon is the highest-grossing media franchise on the planet. Yoshi games, as charming as they are, have historically been mid-tier sellers that Nintendo treats as palette cleansers between bigger releases. Yoshi's Crafted World on the original Switch was well-liked but never threatened the top of any chart for long. For Yoshi and the Mysterious Book to hold off a Pokemon title for two straight weeks suggests Nintendo built something that's connecting with the Switch 2 audience in a way the series hasn't before.

I'm curious whether this holds into week three or if Pokopia reclaims the top spot as more players finish Yoshi's campaign and move on. Either way, the fact that it happened at all says something about the Switch 2 launch window. Players aren't just defaulting to the biggest brand name on the storefront. They're picking the game that looks most interesting to them, and right now, that game stars a green dinosaur with a storybook.