Back in April 2017, the UK video game retail scene witnessed a peculiar showdown. A title that had only been on shelves for two days managed to snatch the crown from every other contender. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe – a turbocharged Switch port of Nintendo's Wii U racer – sped straight to the No.1 spot on the UK monthly physical charts. It was a triumph that proved two things: the Switch was off to a flying start, and fans were desperate for a definitive version of a fan-favourite kart racer. 🏎️

Looking back from 2026, that April feels like a quiet bridge between two blockbuster months. The Switch had launched in March alongside The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, electrifying the market, but by April the release calendar had cooled off considerably. Out of all the new games that month, only six managed to squeeze into the overall Top 50, and a mere four clawed their way into the Top 20. Alongside Mario Kart 8 Deluxe at the summit, the other fresh faces were Persona 5 debuting at No.7 – a stylish JRPG that would go on to become a modern classic – Yooka-Laylee at No.17, and Sniper Ghost Warrior 3 at No.18. The remaining newcomers, Bulletstorm: Full Clip Edition and the eerie puzzle-platformer Little Nightmares, hovered somewhere in the deeper waters of the Top 50.

Meanwhile, the top of the charts was a tug-of-war between recent heavy hitters. Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Wildlands, the previous month’s champion, held firm at No.2. Down below, a familiar juggernaut, Grand Theft Auto V, jumped from sixth to third place – a testament to its unkillable popularity. LEGO Worlds gently climbed one spot to No.4, and FIFA 17 rounded out the top five, kicking its way up from seventh. It was a month where older games showed remarkable legs, while some of March’s darlings started to slide. Horizon Zero Dawn tumbled from No.2 to No.12, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild slipped three spots to No.6, and Mass Effect: Andromeda dropped from fourth to ninth, its momentum fading fast amid mixed reception.

Diving into the raw numbers reveals how dramatic the slowdown really was. The UK boxed games market shrank sharply from 1.67 million units sold in March (generating £59 million) to just 974,000 copies and £29 million in April. The reason was blindingly obvious: March had been a perfect storm of gigantic launches – Horizon Zero Dawn, Ghost Recon Wildlands, Mass Effect: Andromeda, NieR: Automata, LEGO Worlds, and the Switch plus Zelda. April, on the other hand, had little to shout about beyond the late-month arrival of Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and the stylish Persona 5. The absence of a new hardware launch also deflated floor traffic; the Switch boom had already peaked in its opening weeks.

Speaking of hardware, the console sales landscape in April 2017 had its own interesting story. The PlayStation 4 was absolutely dominant, accounting for 44.3% of all physical games sold. That was a commanding lead over the Xbox One, which settled for 30.8%. The Nintendo Switch, despite its tiny install base compared to the other two veteran systems, grabbed a healthy 10.9% share. That figure was especially stunning when you consider the Switch was barely a month old and suffered from supply shortages. It was a clear sign that early adopters were buying games at a ferocious rate.

When it came to publishers, the month belonged squarely to Nintendo. It topped both the unit sales and revenue charts on the back of Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and the still-strong Breath of the Wild. The Japanese giant had managed to dominate a period typically ruled by third-party behemoths, reminding everyone that a well-timed first-party release on a hot new console could tilt the entire market.

What’s truly marvellous, looking at all this from 2026, is how many of those April 2017 charting games have carved out lasting legacies. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, far from being a quick pit stop, evolved into the best-selling Switch game of all time, receiving a massive Booster Course Pass that added 48 remastered tracks and kept it alive well into the mid-2020s. Persona 5 spawned a dancing spin-off, a tactical sequel in Persona 5 Strikers, and even a high-fidelity royal edition that captivated new audiences. Little Nightmares became a dark horse franchise with a sequel that pushed the unsettling universe even further. Even Yooka-Laylee, despite its mixed reviews at launch, found redemption through a brilliant 2D follow-up. The rest? Well, Sniper Ghost Warrior 3 quietly faded, and Bulletstorm remained a cult footnote. But that’s the nature of a chart: a frozen snapshot of a fleeting moment.

So next time you fire up a round of Mario Kart on your Switch OLED or Switch successor, remember that sunny (or rainy) British week in 2017 when a plumber and his mushroom kingdom crew, armed with just two days of sales, lapped the competition. It was a mini fairy tale, and a reminder that in gaming, timing and nostalgia can be an unstoppable red shell. 💥