Europe’s Top Played Nintendo Switch Game of 2021 was… Fortnite!

Bryson Maddock

Bryson Maddock

Fortnite Nintendo Switch: Battle Royale tops the European charts for most played video game of 2021.

Despite various games coming to the Nintendo Switch in 2021, Fortnite won the battle for holding the number one most played Nintendo Switch game in Europe.

Despite being out for four years already, Fortnite has dominated the gaming charts. The popular Battle Royale game shows no signs of going away anytime soon. It was recently reported that Fortnite was the number one most played game amongst Nintendo Switch players in all of Europe.

Fortnite saw a huge surge in player base with the launch of <a href="https://esports.gg/news/fortnite/fortnite-chapter-3-season-1/">Fortnite Chapter 3</a>
Fortnite saw a huge surge in player base with the launch of Fortnite Chapter 3

Despite multiple new releases, Fortnite stays at number one on Nintendo Switch!

Fortnite being number one on the Switch comes as a surprise considering some of the releases the Nintendo had in 2021. Games like Animal Crossing: New Horizons and Pokemon Unite saw massive releases in 2021. According to Statista, Animal Crossing: New Horizons, sits at a total of 34.85 million sold units worldwide.

At the end of December, Fortnite saw a huge influx of players for the launch of Fortnite Chapter 3. The new chapter added several new mechanics such as the ability to slide, tents and web slinging!

On top of being the most played game on Nintendo Switch in 2021, Fortnite was also the most watched Battle Royale of 2021 on Twitch.

The European Top 15 most played games on Nintendo Switch in 2021:

  1. Fortnite
  2. Animal Crossing: New Horizons
  3. Minecraft
  4. Pokémon Sword
  5. Pokémon Shield
  6. Zelda: Breath of the Wild
  7. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe
  8. Rocket League
  9. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
  10. Super Mario Odyssey
  11. FIFA 21 Legacy Edition
  12. Pokémon Unite
  13. Monster Hunter Rise
  14. New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe
  15. Super Mario Party

Fortnite News, a popular and trusted Twitter page with over one million followers, was the first to announce this news surrounding the Fortnite: Nintendo Switch version. on January 29th, 2022.

The surprising hold that Fortnite has had amongst its community is astounding. With a steady and high player base, the popular Battle Royale has shown no signs of going away anytime soon. According to Dexerto, Fortnite was amongst the top five highest streamed games on the popular streaming platform, Twitch, in 2021.

Fortnite beat out Animal Crossing: New Horizons which had a rather big marketing campaign
Fortnite beat out Animal Crossing: New Horizons which had a rather big marketing campaign

What is next?

Regardless of whether you enjoy Fortnite or not, this begs the question, will Fortnite stay as popular in the current year of 2022? Or will we see the game slowly fizzle out amongst other popular releases to be held within this year?

With many complaints about the game's current state amongst the Fortnite competitive community, their casual community seems to be at an all-time high. This leaves us wondering, will Fortnite focus its time on keeping the competitive players happy? Or is the focus to be fully shifted to the casual player base in hopes of keeping their popularity afloat?