Shigeru Miyamoto explains why he thinks Pikmin game sales haven’t ‘exploded’
Nintendo’s chief designer, Shigeru Miyamoto, has discussed the historical performance of the Pikmin games and why he believes the series hasn’t “exploded” commercially like some of the company’s other franchises.
Pikmin 4 arrives on Nintendo Switch today, and the platform holder is hoping in can reach a broader audience than its predecessors have managed.
The franchise’s best-selling entry to date is the Switch port of Pikmin 3, which has sold around two million copies. In comparison, Super Mario Odyssey has sold over 25 million and Zelda: Breath of the Wild nearly 30 million.
Speaking as part of a developer interview on the official Nintendo site, Miyamoto explained his own theories for why the Pikmin series hasn’t been able to reach the same size of audience as his other franchises, despite being beloved by fans.
The Super Mario creator said he believed the series’ difficulty, specifically related to its controls and depth of gameplay, was the main factor, and that a lot of effort had gone into trying to “convey these points as ‘interesting’ rather than ‘difficult.’”
“There have been three games in the series until now, from Pikmin to Pikmin 3, and personally I’ve always wondered, ‘Why haven’t they exploded more in sales even though they’re so much fun to play? Why do people think they’re so difficult?’,” he wrote.
The interviewer then noted that many people seem to think the characters are cute, but that the games themselves are difficult.
Miyamoto responded: “I get that people find it more difficult when death is a factor. But I think the franchise’s strength lies in its relationship with mortality. If something is irreversible, you need to figure out a way to prevent undesired things from happening.
“To try to prevent
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